Morrison in his element

In all likelihood, the 6,000 fans who jammed into the McCarthey Athletic Center for Monday’s championship game of the West Coast Conference men’s basketball tournament saw Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison play his final home game as a Zag.

The 6-foot-8 junior wing is expected to be a lottery pick in this summer’s NBA Draft. And while he refused to officially declare he will forego his senior year at GU and declare for the draft, he certainly acted like a young man living it up in front of the home fans one last time.

Moment’s after the top-seeded Bulldogs turned back Loyola Marymount 68-67 to win their third consecutive WCC title and another automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament, Morrison rushed into the student cheering section where he was hoisted in the air by a mass of blue-shirted fans.

And he later spent some time acknowledging the cheers that rained down for several minutes after the final buzzer had sounded.

Later, in the interview room, Morrison toyed with reporters, who were probing to find out his thoughts on turning pro.

“It’s a little mixed,” he said of his feelings. “I’ve still got to make that decision.

“Obviously, you want to go out in style … , but I might have another year to go out in style. It all depends.

“You guys don’t get to know yet. I know you’re trying to find out right now, but it’s not going to happen.”

At home in the stands

Morrison was asked if he was scared when fans in the student section lifted him in the air after the game.

“Not really,” he said. “They’re great fans. I don’t want to sound arrogant, but whoever dropped me would probably get killed here in Spokane, so I wasn’t scared at all.”

Bulldogs coach Mark Few, sitting next to Morrison in the interview room, suggested the free-spirited Morrison has probably been in some mosh pit-like settings before and probably felt quite comfortable.

Morrison, a product of Mead High School, agreed.

“I kind of like that stuff,” he said, “being from the north side of Spokane.”

All-tournament team

Along with Morrison, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player, the Bulldogs landed senior center J.P. Batista on the all-tournament team, which also included Loyola Marymount’s Brandon Worthy and Matthew Knight and San Diego’s Nick Lewis.

Tired and knee-dy

It was a tired J.P. Batista who scored 13 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for Gonzaga on Monday night.

The senior center, who suffered a knee strain and deep thigh bruise in Sunday’s semifinal win over San Diego, said he was going on only about two hours sleep following a restless night at home and day-long treatment on his bad leg.

“I haven’t been home since 8 (this morning),” said Batista, who said an MRI on his knee showed no major ligament damage. “Everything that was going through my head was just to try to help these guys out.

“That was going to be my last game at home, and I thank God for the opportunity to come out and be able to help.”

Crowd praise

Gonzaga coach Mark Few had nothing but good things to say about the pro-Zags crowd that kept things deafening in the McCarthey Athletic Center throughout most of Monday’s title game.

“It was loud and it got us going,” he said. “And what it was, it was unconditional. Thank heaven for that, because we were stinking it up there for awhile.

“That’s the great thing about our fans – it’s unconditional support and love for the Zags, and it was a factor in us winning this game. If this was (played) somewhere else, we probably don’t get that done.”