Some day in some future somewhere, the Gonzaga Bulldogs will not play in the WCC Tournament championship. That day isn’t today, however. The Bulldogs handily defeated the No. 4 San Francisco Dons, 88-60, to earn a spot in its 21st-straight WCC Tournament championship game.
For the first time in three years, however, it will not be Gonzaga vs. Saint Mary’s. The BYU Cougars took Saint Mary’s to task early and never let up, winning 85-72. Jordan Ford, Jock Landale, and Calvin Hermanson combined 62 of the Gaels 72 points, and for the second-consecutive night, the Gaels theoretically efficient offense was completely dependent on too few players. The only difference was instead of playing the No. 10 Pepperdine Waves, Saint Mary’s was playing the third-seeded BYU Cougars.
It didn’t help that both Landale and Hermanson spent a good portion of the game dealing with foul trouble. With neither of them able to put in any aggressive defensive effort, Yoeli Childs went absolutely buckwild, scoring 33 points. The Gaels defense was absolutely porous all game, with BYU averaging an astounding 1.33 points per possession.
So instead of Saint Mary’s heading into the WCC Tournament final, it is BYU taking on Gonzaga for the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Saint Mary’s will have to sweat it out, like usual, on Selection Sunday.
Game info
- Time: 6:00 pm PT
- TV: ESPN
- Radio: Gonzaga IMG Network
- Online: WatchESPN