Timme sets record, Gonzaga routs Saint Mary’s for WCC title

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Gonzaga’s players heard thecriticisms this wasn’t the same Bulldogs team that has been amongthe nation’s elite in recent years, and they even struggledthemselves to live up to the program’s enormous expectations.

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

The Bulldogs kept working at it, and on Tuesday night, No. 9Gonzaga sent a message to the rest of the country with adominant-from-the-start 77-51 victory over No. 16 Saint Mary’s inthe championship game of the West Coast Conference Tournament.

The Zags (28-5) continued their domination of the WCC with theirfourth consecutive tournament championship and 10th in 11 years,with Saint Mary’s in 2019 being the only exception. Gonzaga has won21 tournament titles overall.

Drew Timme scored 18 points and became Gonzaga’s all-timeleading scorer, earning tournament Most Outstanding Player.

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

“Sometimes it’s hard not to fall into mindset we just need toget to March. It was grind this season. I think that grind has madeus as a group appreciate each and every night winning and what ittakes to win and be a good team.”

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

Both teams will find out their seedings and destinationsSunday.

Gonzaga made 58% of its shots, while holding Saint Mary’s to 33%shooting. The Bulldogs led by as many as 37 points and nevertrailed.

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

Timme’s short jumper with 10:18 left put him in first placealone as the leading scorer in Saint Mary’s history. He enteredjust five points short of breaking the mark, and his 18 points forthe game gave him 2,210 for his career. Frank Burgess held theprevious record of 2,196 from 1958-61.

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

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

“I told our guys we played 32 games and played pretty well in 32of them,” Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett said. “This one, we’reoff. You can credit them. They played well. We didn’t show up.”

BIG PICTURE

Gonzaga: Now is when the real pressure is on Gonzaga, which hadmade numerous deep runs in the NCAA Tournament, but is stillsearching for that elusive national championship. Until thathappens, critics will say the WCC school is not on the same levelas those from the power conference. It’s up the the Zags to provethem wrong.

Saint Mary’s: Saint Mary’s nearly gave away all of a 26-pointlead in Monday’s semifinals because the Gaels had trouble withBYU’s press. Gonzaga threw the press at Saint Mary’s, and while itdidn’t result in transition baskets for the Bulldogs, it slowed theGaels’ offense. Saint Mary’s will need to figure out how to betterexecute against the press, or it will be a problem in the NCAATournament.

UP NEXT

Gonzaga has a legitimate shot at a No. 2 seed, and it enteredthe game ninth in the NET rankings, a metric the NCAA committeeuses in selecting the field. Even though Saint Mary’s was rankedjust one spot ahead of the Bulldogs, the Gaels likely are lookingat more of a five or six seed.