Gonzaga provides one other WCC title as Drew Timme units scoring file

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LAS VEGAS — Gonzaga’s gamers heard the criticisms this wasn’t the identical Bulldogs group that has been among the many nation’s elite lately, and so they even struggled themselves to stay as much as this system’s huge expectations.

“There were numerous days where I was not fun to be around,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few mentioned.

The Bulldogs saved working at it, and on Tuesday night time, No. 9 Gonzaga despatched a message to the remainder of the nation with a dominant-from-the-start 77-51 victory over No. 16 Saint Mary’s within the championship sport of the West Coast Conference match.

The Zags (28-5) continued their domination of the WCC with their fourth consecutive match championship and tenth in 11 years, with Saint Mary’s in 2019 being the one exception. Gonzaga has gained 21 match titles total.

Drew Timme scored 18 factors and have become Gonzaga’s all-time main scorer, incomes match Most Outstanding Player.

“I took for granted winning,” Timme mentioned. “I won so much in my career, it’s a shock not to win. I think early in the year, it just kind of made me appreciate what it takes to win night in and night out. I think sometimes we kind of assume we were just going to win because we’re Gonzaga.

“Sometimes it is exhausting to not fall into mindset we simply must get to March. It was grind this season. I feel that grind has made us as a gaggle respect each night time profitable and what it takes to win and be a superb group.”

Saint Mary’s (26-7) was seeded first in the tournament after the teams split the regular-season series, and Timme said it was strange wearing a blue jersey rather than the customary white one. The Gaels were the last team to beat Gonzaga, which takes a nine-game winning streak into the NCAA tournament that includes beating Saint Mary’s to end the regular season.

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Both teams will find out their seedings and destinations Sunday.

Gonzaga made 58% of its shots, while holding Saint Mary’s to 33% shooting. The Bulldogs led by as many as 37 points and never trailed.

Timme was efficient in making 8 of 10 shots to lead four Bulldogs into double figures. Malachi Smith scored 14 points, Nolan Hickman had 12 and Julian Strawther 10. Anton Watson had 10 rebounds.

Timme’s short jumper with 10:18 left put him alone in first place as the leading scorer in Gonzaga history. He entered just five points short of breaking the mark, and his 18 points for the game gave him 2,210 for his career. Frank Burgess held the previous record of 2,196 from 1958-61.

Logan Johnson led the Gaels with 20 points, and Alex Ducas scored 10.

Gonzaga took control early, using a nine-point run to go up 14-4 and maintained a double-digit lead most of the way from there. The Zags at one point in the first half made 10 of 12 field goals, and by halftime, they had taken full command with a 37-19 lead.

“I informed our guys we performed 32 video games and performed fairly nicely in 32 of them,” Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett said. “This one, we’re off. You can credit score them. They performed nicely. We did not present up.”