Gonzaga weathers early storm, pulls away from Santa Clara late to capture 23rd WCC championship | Analysis
LAS VEGAS – With both eyes focused on the basket, Gonzaga’s Davis Fogle drove from the right sideline, curled up and around the hoop and laid the ball off the glass while drawing contact from Santa Clara’s Christian Hammond.
As he stood up from the floor, the freshman wing emphatically pumped his fist and exchanged a high-five with a Gonzaga fan sitting courtside.
The vibes weren’t always that good for the top-seeded Zags on Tuesday at Orleans Arena, but the night still culminated with a confetti shower and a familiar scene with Gonzaga celebrating its 23rd WCC championship.
After a spotty start against a Santa Clara team that should also be getting good news on Selection Sunday, the top-seeded Zags turned the tide in Tuesday’s West Coast Conference Tournament championship game, taking their first lead midway through the second and dominating the final stretches of a 79-68 victory.
“This game was like a microcosm of our season, we had to really overcome a lot,” Few said. “They were really stinging us on offense. I think they were almost at two points per possession there the first four minutes, then we finally settled in there and we couldn’t get our offense going. Just had to change some things up. Guys did a good job adjusting then we got cooking.”
Despite the attrition Few’s team faced – a long-term injury to star forward Braden Huff and smaller setbacks to Graham Ike and Jalen Warley – Gonzaga’s 23rd and final championship as a member of the WCC still coincided with the program’s ninth 30-win season. The Zags (30-3) earned their 28th consecutive NCAA Tournament berth and will learn their seed and location this Sunday. Most bracket projections have GU going to Portland, likely as a No. 3 or 4 seed.
Mario Saint-Supery led an inspired second-half effort from Gonzaga, scoring a season-high 21 points on 6 of 12 from the 3-point line to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Tyon Grant-Foster had 20 points on 7 of 11 shooting, Ike scored 15 points on 7 of 7 shooting and Fogle was the fourth Zag to finish in double figures, adding 13 points on 4 of 7 shooting.
It didn’t always look like a slam dunk on Tuesday for the Zags, who were playing someone other than Saint Mary’s in the WCC title game for the first time since 2020-21.
Santa Clara, which dispatched the Gaels in Monday’s semifinal to earn its first trip to the championship since 2007, grabbed a 9-1 lead less than four minutes in and led 33-29 at the halftime break. It was the first time since a 40-point loss to Michigan the Zags didn’t lead at any point in the first half.
Defense was one culprit when looking at the reasons Gonzaga fell behind, but not the biggest one. The Zags were often able to force misses on the Broncos’ first shot attempts, but Santa Clara worked hard on the glass, tracking down 11 offensive rebounds in the opening frame and turning those into 13 second-chance points.
“I think the first biggest key was rebounding,” Warley said. “We had a couple of possessions in the first half where we actually would get to the stop and they would rebound and then you had to guard for another 30 seconds. It’s really hard to guard 60 seconds of a possession back to back.”
The Zags flipped the script in the second half, using defensive stops to ignite their transition offense. Gonzaga outscored Santa Clara 50-35 after the break and finished the game with a 27-0 advantage in fastbreak points.
During a key second-half sequence, Ike rejected Brenton Knapper’s shot underneath the hoop. Saint-Supery collected the rebound and pushed the ball to Grant-Foster, who finished with a layup.
Saint-Supery got a piece of Knapper’s shot on the following possession, controlled the rebound and fed to Fogle, who was fouled by Thierry Darlan and made both free throws, extending the lead to five points. The Zags didn’t return the lead, stretching their advantage out to 12 points on free throws from Grant-Foster with 40 seconds remaining.
“Just so proud of this whole squad,” said Ike, who followed WCC Player of the Year honors with a WCC Tournament MVP trophy on Tuesday. “It’s been a pleasure to be with this team, it’s been a pleasure to end the WCC legacy, lineage, tenure. It’s a great way to end it, no better ending.”
The quartet of Gonzaga players to reach double figures accounted for all but two of the team’s points after the break. Saint-Supery had 15 second-half points, followed by 12 from Grant-Foster, 11 from Ike and 10 from Fogle.
Hammond finished with a team-high 24 points for Santa Clara, making 9 of 16 shots from the field, 2 of 4 from the 3-point line and 4 of 5 from the free throw line. Freshman Allen Graves was the only other Bronco in double figures, finishing with 11.
The WCC All-Tournament team consisted of three players from Gonzaga – Ike, Grant-Foster and Saint-Supery – along with Santa Clara’s Graves and Sash Gavalyugov.