Gonzaga’s Braden Huff ‘ready for the moment’ in title-game win over Gaels

LAS VEGAS – Braden Huff put Gonzaga’s sticker logo on a March Madness Ticket placard and emphatically secured it in place with four firm slaps with his left hand.

It was a deserving honor for Huff, who found out late Monday night he was going to be in the starting lineup for Tuesday’s West Coast Conference Tournament championship game against Saint Mary’s.

He came through with his best performance in a marquee game of his young career, which is saying something considering his 12-point effort in 15 minutes in GU’s season-changing road win against Kentucky last season.

Huff had 18 points in 32 turnover-free minutes and did a creditable defensive job to spark the Zags’ 58-51 victory at Orleans Arena, a measure of revenge after the Gaels won both regular-season meetings.

It was an eventful 24 hours for Huff, who chipped in six points in 12 minutes in his usual role off the bench in Monday’s win over San Francisco.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few made a calculated decision to insert Huff in place of Ben Gregg with the first unit against the Gaels, a move questioned by numerous keyboard coaches on X. The 6-foot-10 redshirt sophomore promptly hit a pair of soft-touch shots in the lane and just his seventh 3-pointer of the season – and the only made 3 by either team – before the game was five minutes old.

Not a bad start to his second career start in 68 games.

“We have four or five bigs that can start on a lot of college basketball teams,” Huff said as teammates took turns cutting down the net. “So my motto all year has just been to stay ready. Whatever my role looks like, just be ready for the moment.”

Few made the change because he “thought we had an advantage with (Huff) posting against their starting lineup.” It turned out Huff went to work against the starting bigs and when the Gaels subbed in 7-1, 275-pound center Harry Wessels.

Huff delivered multiple timely buckets when Saint Mary’s cut into Gonzaga’s lead during a nervy second half. The only tie of the game came early in the second half. Khalif Battle scored on a twisting layup and Huff followed with a tough three-point play inside to restore a five-point lead.

SMC closed within 44-42 when Battle fed Huff for a layup. When Huff misfired in the lane a few minutes later, Graham Ike immediately offered encouraging words.

“Love that man,” Ike said. “He stepped up to the plate when we needed it the most. He missed one floater with seven or eight minutes left and I told him keep shooting it, the next one is gonna fall. He ended up making the next one. Special guy. Special group of dudes.”

That basket came near the five-minute mark as Huff used a counter move, finishing with his right hand, something the left-hander has done more often over the last two months, to extend Gonzaga’s lead to 52-47.

Neither team scored until Huff’s rebound and field goal made it 54-47 with two minutes remaining. The Gaels scored just nine points in the final 10 minutes and coughed up a season-high 18 turnovers to GU’s four.

Huff was a key factor in Gonzaga’s 40-34 advantage in paint points and he also contributed four rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot.

“Our improvement defensively over the season has been huge,” Huff said. “We’re taking a lot more pride on that end of the floor, just really focused and honed in and it showed. We used a lot of (different defenses). They had a lot of it scouted, they were ready with a good game plan. We had to throw a lot at them to mix it up.”

Glass cleaners

Saint Mary’s won the boards 43-28 overall and 14-10 on offensive rebounds but held just a five-point edge in second-chance points.

Gonzaga limited some of damage by forcing several turnovers right after the Gaels pulled down offensive boards, one leading to a transition basket.

“Saint Mary and Houston are probably the two best rebounding teams in the country,” Few said. “They’re going to get us on the glass every time. You just try to minimize the damage as best you can.”

T time

Ryan Nembhard didn’t make the all-tournament team, but he had worthy credentials with 18 points, 14 assists and five steals in two wins. Good luck finding a happier Zag after Tuesday’s final buzzer.

“Two tough losses to those guys,” Nembhard said. “This feels great for sure.”

Nembhard had a rare bout with foul trouble and went to the bench with two fouls late in the first half. He was quickly tagged with a technical foul and his third personal foul after an exchange with an official when he was on the bench.

“He thought I said something that I didn’t say,” said Nembhard, who has three technicals this season, the first two coming on double-technicals with opposing players. “It is what it is.”

Mind-boggling numbers

•Saint Mary’s missed all 16 of its 3-point attempts, the first time the Gaels didn’t make a 3 in Randy Bennett’s 24 seasons as head coach (782 games), according to ESPN research.

•GU (1 of 15) and SMC combined to go 1 of 31 on 3-pointers (3.2%). That’s the worst percentage in a Division I game since 2020 when Tennessee and Vanderbilt went 1 of 33 (3.0%), according to college basketball stat guru Jared Berson.

•The Zags became the first team in the past 25 years to win a game while scoring less than 60 points, shooting below 10% on 3s with at least 15 attempts and getting outrebounded by 15 or more, according to OptaSTATS.

•Gonzaga will make its 26th straight NCAA Tournament appearance, the third-longest active streak. That doesn’t include 2020 when the tournament was canceled due to the COVID pandemic shortly after Gonzaga won the WCC Tournament and was likely going to be a No. 1 seed.

•Gonzaga earned its 25th win, extending its NCAA record to 18 consecutive seasons with at least 25 victories. The Zags have posted at least 25 wins in 21 of the past 22 seasons.