Topranked Gonzaga puts away St. Mary’s
Gonzaga guard Joel Ayayi drives against Kyle Bowen (left) and Dan Fotu of St. Mary’s in their WCC tournament semifinal at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Monday. The Gaels led 20 before the Zags scored the next 11 points and were not threatened in a 7855 win. No. 1 Gonzaga will face BYU or Pepperdine in Tuesday’s final.
Drew Timme scored 18 points, Joel Ayayi added 16 and topranked Gonzaga racked up another lopsided win, blowing past St. Mary’s 7855 in a WCC tournament semifinal in Las Vegas on Monday night.
The Bulldogs (250) tied the school record with their 29th straight win dating to last season.
“We’re going to have an ‘A’ game to play ’em close, and we didn’t,” St. Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett said in his postgame Zoom news conference. The Zags beat St. Mary’s for the third time this season, winning each game by a doubledigit margin.
“They’re a bad matchup for us,” Bennett said. “They guard, and they’re going to score. They’re the best offensive team in the country, and I haven’t seen one that’s really close.”
Jalen Suggs scored 15 points for the Zags, who entered Monday leading the nation in scoring at 92.9 points per game. Tuesday, they’ll play in the WCC title game against the winner of Monday’s late semifinal between BYU and Pepperdine.
The Gaels (149) went 2for20 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Zags went 33for62 (53.2%) from the floor. They came into Monday leading the nation in fieldgoal percentage at 55.3.
“This is probably their best offensive team,” Bennett said of the Zags. “I don’t know how you could have one better. They shoot 55%. Usually, 50 (or) 51 leads the country. 55% is a ridiculous number.”
Logan Johnson led St. Mary’s with 15 points.
The Gaels have reached the postseason in each of the past 12 seasons in which one was held, with six appearances in the NCAA Tournament and six in the NIT.
With a NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) ranking of 64 as of Monday morning, St. Mary’s figures to be a candidate to receive a bid to the NIT, which was trimmed to a 16team field for this year. Bennett said the Gaels gladly would accept a bid for the event that will take place in the Dallas area.