LAS VEGAS - There are potentially three weeks of big-time games in his team’s future, but Gonzaga coach Mark Few wants his players to appreciate what they’ve achieved so far this season. He certainly does.
“Everybody focuses on the NCAA Tournament, but to be a No. 1 seed . . . that’s a reward for four months of playing the best and battling everybody in our conference that give you their best effort,” Few said Tuesday night after the top-ranked Zags posted an 81-69 win over No. 17 Saint Mary’s to win the University Credit Union West Coast Conference Tournament title for the 10th time in the past 12 seasons.
There will be plenty of time before and after Selection Sunday for Few to study game tape and do prep for the NCAA opener. But he was happy to let this moment soak in after Gonzaga won its 20th overall WCC Tournament crown at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
“When you see the players at the end of this thing (celebrating) on the floor and you know what was said during the recruiting process, we feel good on delivering what we talked about this experience being,” Few said. “I do have moments where I step back and feel a lot of pride for that.”
The Zags are projected to be a No. 1 seed — probably the overall No. 1 — in the field, which would mark the fifth time in six seasons they accomplished that. (The NCAA Tournament was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19, but Gonzaga would have been a No. 1).
On Tuesday night, the Zags (26-3) locked up that No. 1 seed by turning back a Gaels team (25-6) that beat them when these teams met 10 days earlier in Moraga, the Zags’ only defeat in conference play.
“To do it within this league this year, where literally we’ve been talking about having four teams in the NCAA Tournament, it makes it even more remarkable,” he said.
The experts are now projecting only Saint Mary’s and San Francisco (24-9) will join Gonzaga from the WCC in the field of 68.
Saint Mary’s made it difficult for Gonzaga for much of the night. The Gaels bottled up All-America forward Drew Timme (10 points) and freshman sensation Chet Holmgren (8 points), and they trailed just, 54-52, after Matthias Tass converted a tip-in with 8:04 left.
The Zags took charge with a 9-1 run that was fueled by seven points from Rasir Bolton, who transferred after a 2-22 season at Iowa State. “I definitely wanted to be part of a winning culture,” said Bolton, who scored 18 points.
Point guard Andrew Nembhard was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after posting 19 points, seven assists and just one turnover in 39 minutes. He scored eight straight points for the Zags, pushing their advantage to 73-61 with 2:45 to play.
Julian Strawther scored 13 of his 16 points in the first half, and Anton Watson came off the bench provide 10 points.
“They’re not a two-trick pony,” Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett said.
Bennett stared at the stat sheet before taking questions from reporters and was a bit surprised by what he saw.
“I saw they shot 70 percent in the second half,” he said. “I’d say that’s the worst we’ve defended them, at least numbers-wise. It didn’t feel that way; I guess it was. They’re tough to guard. You’re going to have to force them to try to make some tough shots and hope they don’t make them. But they can make them.”
Saint Mary’s met the Zags in the title game for the fifth time in seven years. But while he thought his team played fairly well, Bennett wasn’t taking much consolation in that fact.
“We are much past being the team where, `Hey, it’s cool we hung in there with Gonzaga.’ “
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Nembhard, who played 79 of 80 minutes over two nights, was named Most Outstanding Player. He averaged 18 points and seven assists in wins over San Francisco and Saint Mary’s.
“It’s great, man. I feel like I put in a good amount of work and kept my head down. I’m not big on getting recognition, but it’s nice,” he said.
Joining Nembhard on the five-man all-tournament squad were Timme and Holmgren, Saint Mary’s point guard Tommy Kuhse, who scored 42 points in two games, and USF’s Khalil Shabazz, who scored 49.
THE DIFFERENCE 10 DAYS LATER: The nation’s highest-scoring team, Gonzaga was held to 57 points in its defeat at Saint Mary’s in the regular-season finale. In the rubber match of a three-game season series, the Zags improved 25 points on that performance.
Nembhard said some of it was just being themselves again. “We have confidence in ourselves,” he said. “Offensively, we played with a lot more purpose, moved the ball, played with more pace.”
“Our execution and spacing were much better than in Moraga,” Few said. “We were kind of running in quicksand out there.”
Few has great respect for the Gaels, having often played them three times a year over the past two decades. He said that made this win particularly sweet.
“That’s just a great, high-level win for our guys,” he said. “I can’t tell you how impressed we are with Saint Mary’s, just how solid they are, how tough they are, how disciplined they are. Everything we’re able to get off them is hard-earned. That’s a really, really good team we beat.”
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD: Saint Mary’s senior guard Logan Johnson scored 21 points in the title game but is better known as an elite defender. As a result, he was not happy with the way his team played at that end of the floor.
“I think we have more defensively, for sure. Eighty-two points is too much,” he said. “We’re a gritty team. It doesn’t matter if it’s the No. 1 team in the country: We expect to come out on top every night. If we don’t, we’ve got to go back to the drawing board.”
Johnson pointed out that the Gaels haven’t lost two in a row all season. Teammate Alex Ducas agreed the team has more to accomplish. “We’re going to make some noise for sure,” he said of his goals for the NCAA Tournament. “This team’s tough. I’m not so sure too many teams want to see us in the first round.”
Johnson said there is work to do before the NCAA field is announced. “When that moment comes on Sunday, we’ll be excited for it and ready for it.”
STAT OF THE GAME: No team other than Gonzaga or Saint Mary’s has won the WCC Tournament since San Diego did it in 2008. The Gaels took the crown in 2010, ’12 and ’19, the only seasons during that 14-year span that Gonzaga didn’t go home with the hardware.
QUOTE OF THE GAME: “It’s always really nice to be able to come here and play in front of my friends and family. To be able to cut down the nets in front of them is an experience I’ll never forget and I’ll always cherish.” — Gonzaga sophomore guard Julian Strawther, who grew up in Las Vegas.