Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s renew rivalry with WCC Tournament title on the line

LAS VEGAS – It’s usually Gonzaga that’s positioned to repeat as champions in the West Coast Conference Tournament.

The roles are flipped this time around with Saint Mary’s going for a second straight championship to accompany its two consecutive outright regular-season titles. The Zags, long the top dog in the WCC, are standing in their way.

The second-seeded Zags held off San Francisco 85-76 in Monday’s semifinals, a few hours after the Gaels thumped Pepperdine 74-59.

So for the fourth straight year and 13th time in 17 championship games at Orleans Arena, it’s Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s for the trophy. GU holds a 12-4 edge in those clashes.

It’s a rivalry that is two-plus decades old and started brewing shortly after Mark Few was promoted to head coach for the 1999-2000 season and Bennett took over a downtrodden SMC program two years later.

“It’s amazing if you think about where we both started from,” Few said. “This is my 36th year (at Gonzaga, the first 10 as an assistant). From where their program came when I first got in as an assistant and actually when Randy took over, he’s done an amazing job. They have a great culture, they know who they are, they play to that.

“I always say they’re very purposeful and very good at what they do with how they play, which is very different than how we play. And we’re really good at what we do.”

What the top-seeded Gaels do best is defend and dominate on the boards. Saint Mary’s leads the nation in rebounding margin (plus 10.1) and ranks No. 5 in scoring defense (60.8).

Both were evident in Saint Mary’s 62-58 home win and 74-67 victory in Spokane during the regular season.

“This is a team that beat us twice and got us on our home court on Senior night,” Zags senior guard Ryan Nembhard said. “We definitely want that get-back. We ‘re looking forward to the challenge. No surprises (when the teams face each other). They know us and we know them. It’s going to be a hard-fought battle. We know that.”

How do the Zags reverse the outcome this time?

“Rebounding is No. 1,” Nembhard said. “If we limit their second-chance points, that allows us to get out and run. And we have to be a lot better in our man-to-man defense. They’ve got us out of that pretty early in both of those games.”

“Definitely it’s going to be a physical game,” post Graham Ike added. “We’ve gotten better offensively and defensively since the last time we’ve seen them and we intend to show that.”

Gonzaga (24-8) executed at the offensive end and got enough defensive stops in the second half to rally past USF. It was Gonzaga’s third single-digit win, 21 have been by double figures.

“It was great to see because this felt like one of the first games where we kind of closed out. That was a close game where we didn’t blow them out by 20 or 15,” said Ike, who scored a team-high 27 points. “It’s very encouraging to see. We have stuck together all year and it’s really paying off right now.”

Senior wing Khalif Battle had a big night with three 3-pointers, 21 points and three steals against the Dons.

Saint Mary’s poses different challenges than USF.

“The game (Tuesday) means everything,” said senior wing Khalif Battle, who had three 3-pointers, 21 points and three steals against the Dons. “It hurt losing the first two times so we’re going to be ready to play. I’ve never had a conference championship so I’m hungry for that. I’m sure a lot of guys are hungry for that.

“I think we have a lot to prove and a lot to say to the country. Now it’s all about going out there, competing, rebounding, defending and the offense will take care of itself.”

The Gaels have won four of the last five series meetings. They’ve won 18 of their last 19 games with the lone loss coming against San Francisco 65-64.

“For sure (rebounding is big), but it’s more than that,” senior forward Ben Gregg said. “It’s every aspect: defense, ball screens, just little details they’re so tough with. Personally, I feel like I got punked last few times we played them, so I’m ready to see them again.

“We’re in a great headspace right now and we know how important this game is. Last year not winning the conference tournament, that was the first time for me and it was just a weird feeling. I think everybody in this locker room is hungry and ready to go.”