Gonzaga survives scare from USF in WCC semifinals
Joel Ayayi scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half and No. 2 Gonzaga survived a scare to beat San Francisco 81-77 on Monday night in the West Coast Conference tournament semifinals.
The Bulldogs (30-2) will play either Saint Mary’s or No. 14 BYU, who were meeting in Monday’s other semifinal, in tonight’s championship game.
Killian Tillie had 19 points and Ryan Woolrdige had 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting to pace Gonzaga, which will be playing in its 26th WCC final and seeking its 17th championship.
Charles Minlend scored 19 points, one of four players in double figures for the Dons (22-12). Khalil Shabazz had 17 points.
Ayayi broke a 69-69 tie with 4:14 left with a jumper, and hit a mid-range shot on the following possession to give Gonzaga a 73-69 lead. The redshirt sophomore scored eight of Gonzaga’s nine points during a 9-3 run.
San Francisco had a 12-2 run in the first half and tied it at 25-25 on Remu Raitanen’s 3-pointer with 6:29 left.
Gonzaga had a 10-3 run shortly thereafter. Woolridge, who had 14 points in the first half, hit his second 3 with 49 seconds left to make it 39-32.
Pritchard top player
Oregon’s Payton Pritchard has been named Pac-12 player of the year by the conference’s coaches.
UCLA coach Mick Cronin was voted coach of the year and Arizona freshman forward Zeke Nnaji freshman of the year in honors announced Monday.
Colorado’s Tyler Bey was named defensive player of the year, UCLA’s Chris Smith most improved player and Arizona State’s Alonzo Verge Jr. the sixth man of the year.
Pritchard became the fourth player in Pac-12 history to lead the conference in scoring and assists. He averaged 20.5 points and 5.5 assists while leading the 13thranked Ducks to their third regular-season Pac-12 title in five years.
Cronin led the Bruins to within a game of winning the regular-season title after a sluggish start to the season.
AP Top 25
Kansas maintained its grip on the No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, while fourth-ranked Florida State has its highest ranking in nearly five decades.
The Jayhawks received all 65 first-place votes to remain at the top for a third straight week and fourth overall this season, with the past two weeks coming as the unanimous choice ahead of Gonzaga and Dayton.
The Seminoles rose three spots after wrapping up the first ACC regular-season title in program history. That moved FSU to its highest ranking since No. 2 in December 1972.
Baylor slid to fifth and San Diego State sixth behind FSU, while Creighton jumped four spots to No. 7 ahead of Kentucky. Michigan State climbed seven spots to ninth, rejoining the top 10 for the first time since early January after going from preseason No. 1 to unranked.
Duke, one of a record-tying seven teams to spend time at No. 1 this season, rounded out the top 10.
West Virginia and Butler returned to the poll as the week’s new additions, with the Mountaineers tying Houston for 22nd and the Bulldogs at No. 24. SOUTH CAROLINA KEEPS TOP WOMEN’S RANKING >> South Carolina ran through the Southeastern Conference Tournament to keep its hold on the No. 1 ranking in the AP women’s poll.
The Gamecocks beat Georgia, Arkansas and Mississippi State by an average of 24 points to win the conference tournament for the fifth time in six years.
Coach Dawn Staley’s team received 27 of 30 first-place votes from a national media panel. The Gamecocks look poised to be the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament when the field is announced next week. South Carolina won’t have to travel far, most likely playing the first two rounds at home before making the two-hour trip to Greenville, S.C., where the team just won the SEC championship.
Oregon received the other three first-place votes and moved up one spot to No. 2 after winning the Pac-12 Tournament.