Gonzaga’s defense overwhelms Oregon State en route to 65-56 win, 29th straight WCC title game: ‘We were up against a brutal force’ | Analysis

LAS VEGAS – Wayne Tinkle pinpointed defensive coverage on Graham Ike as an area fourth-seeded Oregon State needed to polish up if the Beavers had any chance of upsetting top-seeded Gonzaga in Monday’s West Coast Conference Tournament semifinal.

Technically, the Beavers were successful. Ike scored 35 points in a regular-season matchup between the teams on Feb. 7 and only totaled 24 in Monday’s rematch at Orleans Arena.

Oregon State made slight headway on that front, but would’ve needed to improve in a handful of other areas – most of them on the offensive end – to keep Gonzaga from a 29th straight trip to the WCC Tournament championship game.

The 12th-ranked Zags didn’t have their finest offensive night, but a stellar defensive outing allowed them to lead wire to wire and maintain a comfortable lead throughout a 65-56 victory.

Gonzaga (29-3) will now look to capture its 23rd WCC Tournament title and wrap up its ninth 30-win season when it plays second-seeded Saint Mary’s (28-4) or third-seeded Santa Clara (26-7) at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Vegas.

The semifinal between the Gaels and Broncos didn’t finish before print deadline Monday.

“I was really proud of how our guys came out. Obviously these games are hard when we know we’re going to continue to play after this but you’re playing a team that doesn’t have that opportunity,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “So you’re facing a sense of desperation on their end that they sometimes have where they’re just beating you to balls and outhustling you and I didn’t think that was the case tonight.

“I think our guys were really, really dialed in.”

Gonzaga has been a participant in every WCC Tournament championship game since 1998. Any concerns about the NCAA’s longest streak coming to an end vanished shortly after tipoff at Orleans Arena.

It took the Zags roughly two and a half minutes to get on the board, but when they eventually did, Mario Saint-Supery’s driving and-one layup gave them a 2-0 lead. They went up 4-0 on Graham Ike’s layup and 6-0 after a pair of free throws from Jalen Warley, who returned to the starting lineup after missing two straight games with a quad contusion.

Five total minutes elapsed before Oregon State saw a shot fall through the basket … after nine straight misses. The Beavers finally crossed into double figures with eight minutes left on the first-half game clock and made 8 of 28 (28%) shots from the field in the opening frame.

“It was great,” senior guard Adam Miller said of GU’s defense. “I think our best ability is our team, communicating when we’re in tight huddles, when we’re following the game plan and we’re holding each other accountable. That was a big emphasis after that last game (against Saint Mary’s), so I think we did an amazing job on that side, sticking to the game plan and trying to get (Oregon State) guys to do the opposite of their strengths.”

The Zags only finished 25 of 53 from the field and 3 of 14 from 3-point range. Oregon State’s offensive numbers looked considerably worse. The Beavers finished 19 of 56 from the field, made 6 of 25 from beyond the arc and committed 12 turnovers that led to 19 Gonzaga points.

“We were up against a brutal force tonight,” Tinkle said. “Just a ton of praise to them for their physicality defensively, the way they slowed us down in the first half with that three-quarter court pressure. They do a lot of good things.”

Ike led Gonzaga in scoring for the ninth straight game and had his 14th double-double of the season, adding 11 rebounds. The senior forward and recently-named WCC Player of the Year averaged 26.7 points in four career games against OSU, totaling 107 points in those matchups.

The Zags were balanced otherwise, getting nine points from freshman Davis Fogle, eight from Tyon Grant-Foster and seven each from Braeden Smith and Adam Miller. Fogle and Emmanuel Innocenti each had six rebounds and Saint-Supery led the game with four steals.

Warley, who’d been playing through a quad contusion since the early stages of Gonzaga’s Feb. 4 loss at Portland before missing games against Pacific and Saint Mary’s, was able to stay on the court for 23 minutes. He had four points, three rebounds, one assist and one turnover.

Forward Jorge Diaz Graham led OSU with 15 points and nine rebounds while center Noah Amenhauser added 12 points.

Tinkle, a Ferris High graduate who was recently terminated as OSU’s coach after 12 years, likely coached his last game with the Beavers (17-16), barring an unforeseen postseason invite.

“You know me, I’m going to battle to the bitter end,” Tinkle said. “I said we’re going to win at least six games in league the second half. We had a chance to win seven, but we won six. Then what hit 11 days ago hit and we had some choices to make. Mine was all about, would they be better without me knowing I’m not going to be back and maybe rallying for each other and for the assistant coaches, or with me.

“The response, ‘coach, lead us to the end,’ is going to be something near and dear to my heart the way they had our backs.”