Avalanche of 3-pointers helps Saint Mary’s clinch share of WCC title with 70-59 win over No. 9 Gonzaga | Analysis
MORAGA, Calif. – Gonzaga’s defense held up for a solid 20-25 seconds on Saint Marys’ first possession Saturday night at UCU Pavilion.
It resulted in a Mikey Lewis 3-pointer anyway, setting the tone for what turned into a long, agonizing night for the ninth-ranked Zags against their top rival in the West Coast Conference.
Tyon Grant-Foster made good headway on the opening possession, turning away a mid-range shot from Paulius Murauskas. As soon as the Saint Mary’s forward recovered the offensive rebound, Grant-Foster was right back on his hip. The Gonzaga wing lodged the ball away, but it only spilled as far as Lewis. The guard scooped it up and immediately pulled from the 3-point line.
Swish.
The Zags had their moments on Saturday, but Lewis and the Gaels had more, overcoming a first-half deficit to win 70-59 in Moraga and claim at least a share of the WCC regular-season title for the fourth straight season.
Lewis was good in the first half and sensational in the second, delivering seven 3-pointers to score a career-high 31 points for a Saint Mary’s team that made a season-high 16 shots from behind the arc.
It all added up to a third loss for Gonzaga, which won a share of the regular-season WCC championship Wednesday but squandered an opportunity to secure the outright title in its 46th and final season as a member of the league.
“I thought our defense was excellent in the first half,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “To me it was a tale of two halves. We played a great first half, missed a bunch of lay-ins, probably should’ve been up 15, 16, even more than that. Our defense was really, really solid and really forceful and hit all of our coverages.”
And then?
“We just let it bleed out in the second half,” senior guard Adam Miller said. “Shot quality wasn’t as good.”
The Zags were in front on the scoreboard and appeared to be in control of the game when they took a seven-point lead into the halftime break.
After another avalanche of 3-pointers from Saint Mary’s, they glanced up at the scoreboard to find themselves trailing by 14 points when Lewis connected on his seventh triple with 1 minute, 29 seconds remaining.
It all happened quickly for the Gaels during a 41-point second half. Point guard Joshua Dent nailed two 3’s to spur an 8-0 run that helped the Gaels retake the lead and Lewis proceeded to rattle off seven straight points, expanding the Saint Mary’s cushion.
Lewis, who scored just four points in Gonzaga’s 73-65 victory last month, finished 10 of 21 from the field, 7 of 10 from the 3-point line and 4 of 4 from the free throw line. He topped his previous career high of 28 points earlier this year against Chattanooga.
“He’s pretty unreal, isn’t he?” Saint Mary’s center Harry Wessels said. “He was super good for us. He got going and didn’t stop.”
The Zags have been shorthanded since junior forward Braden Huff went down with a left knee injury in January and played their second straight game without senior wing Jalen Warley, who was out with a left quad contusion.
Senior forward Graham Ike scored 13 points during a strong first half but was nearly invisible in the second, adding four more to finish with 17 on the night. Ike fouled out with less than four minutes remaining.
It still may have been good enough to clinch WCC Player of the Year honors. Murauskas appeared to be the forward’s top challenger for the award, but the junior was contained to nine points on 2 of 10 from the field and committed three turnovers.
Adam Miller scored 14 points on 5 of 13 shooting and 1 of 5 from the 3-point line while Tyon Grant-Foster had 13 points and six rebounds in his first start since November.
Dent scored 14 points for the Gaels, freshman Mantas Juzenas added 12 on four 3-pointers and Dillan Shaw led all players with 10 assists.
Gonzaga’s third loss could have NCAA Tournament seeding implications, but it won’t impact Few’s team next week at the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas. The Zags claimed a share of the regular-season WCC title by beating Portland earlier in the week and will still head to the conference tournament with the No. 1 overall seed. Saint Mary’s clinched the No. 2 seed and a bye to the semifinal round with its victory over Santa Clara on Wednesday.
Gonzaga (28-3, 16-2) faces an eight-day layoff before opening its final WCC Tournament March 9 at Orleans Arena. The top-seeded Zags will open in the semifinals against the winner of a quarterfinal game between fourth-seeded Oregon State and an opponent to be determined.