Gonzaga takeaways: Zags-Gaels produce another interesting season series

LAS VEGAS – They’re not calling out each other’s plays. Well, maybe they are and it’s just impossible to hear it from the media section located a lengthy 3-pointer from the baseline at Orleans Arena.

There might not be two teams in the country that know each other as thoroughly as Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s. The last team not named Gonzaga or Saint Mary’s to win a West Coast Conference regular-season title was Pepperdine in 2002, shared with the Zags. The last team to win a WCC Tournament championship other than GU or SMC was San Diego in 2008.

It’s usually Gonzaga first and Saint Mary’s second, but the Gaels have one solo regular-season crown, two shared titles with GU and three tourney championships since 2010.

The familiarity of the coaching staffs, the contrast of the programs’ playing styles and the game-plan tweaks often make for an intriguing series annually. Gonzaga pulled away late to come out on top 82-69 in Tuesday’s tournament title game after splitting regular-season matchups.

More on Zags-Gaels past and present in our latest Gonzaga takeaways.

Familiar foes

Gonzaga coach Mark Few has a 51-12 record against the Gaels in his 23rd season. That’s roughly the equivalent of two regular seasons vs. one opponent. Saint Mary’s counterpart Randy Bennett is 12-45 against the Zags in his 21 seasons.

One wonders how many hours Few and Bennett have spent studying video of the other’s games.

There have been blow-by postgame handshakes in the past with pictures posted on social media within minutes, but there was only candid praise from both coaches following Tuesday’s showdown.

“That’s just a high-level win for our guys,” said Few, who predicted the Gaels would win multiple games in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. “I just can’t tell you how impressed we are with Saint Mary’s, just how solid they are, how tough, how disciplined they are, especially on the defensive end. Everything we were able to get off them is hard-earned. That’s what makes this one so sweet.”

Bennett was answering a question about the Zags’ offense when he stopped, chuckled and noted, “Nobody has studied what they do harder than we have. We have a pretty good idea, we didn’t complete it tonight. You have to do it for 40 minutes.

“I thought it was a good ballgame with 6, 8 minutes to go. We’re much past being the team that’s, ‘Hey, it’s cool we hung in there with Gonzaga.’ That’s not our standard. Last year we weren’t, we didn’t have enough firepower. This year’s team beat them once. This game should have gone down to the wire.”

Bennett caught himself again and attempted to balance wanting more from his squad with the sizable challenge they encountered Tuesday.

“They’re good, though, I don’t ever want to take away from that,” he added. “They’re very good. We played the No. 1 team in the country three times. You get good when you do that.”

Bennett offered insight on what makes the Zags tough to contain.

“Everybody asks me all the time, ‘What’s the key?’ Well, it’s not quite that simple,” he said. “OK, you have to keep them out of transition. They can shoot the ball, they have a ridiculous inside game. They’re good defensively, they’re big, they’ve got good shooters.

“Their offense is as good as any in the country in efficiency and all the different looks they give you. (Drew) Timme is like a point-center out there. There are a lot of things you have to get right to have a chance. We did that for a while, but you have to do that for 40 minutes.”

Watson steps up

Gonzaga had three players make the all-tournament team, led by MVP Andrew Nembhard. Anton Watson, and Rasir Bolton for that matter, played well enough to probably garner some votes.

Watson endured a rough patch over the final three weeks of the regular season, including two games against Saint Mary’s with a combined three points and five rebounds.

The 6-foot-8 junior forward produced 10 points and five boards in the championship game. Many of his biggest plays came in the first half when frontcourt starters Timme and Chet Holmgren were struggling.

Watson was equally effective in a semifinal win over San Francisco with eight points, 10 boards and three assists. The Gonzaga Prep grad made 9 of 13 shots in the two games.

“Anton’s minutes were huge,” Few said. “This whole tournament he got back to doing what he was doing pretty much the whole year. That’s so big for us to get that lift like that off the bench.”

Watson boosted his season averages to 7.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 18.2 minutes.

Nembhard tips his cap

Nembhard set the MVP plaque down for a second, but he never stopped handing out assists after the final buzzer. After hitting three 3-pointers, 8 of 16 shots, scoring 19 points and dishing out seven assists, he talked about nearly everyone else but himself.

“I give it up to my teammates,” he said. “They give me the freedom to be myself on the court and my coaching staff gives me freedom. I give it all to them. Full-team effort. It really showed our versatility. The young guys came in and made a huge impact. I’m super happy.”

That versatility makes Gonzaga difficult to deal with.

“That’s why they are what they are,” Bennett said. “They’re not a two-trick pony. They can get you a lot of ways. Those guards have gotten better. Nembhard is a really good player, Bolton can score, Strawther has really improved. Give them credit, those guys are good players.”