Gonzaga head coach Mark Few. / Gonzaga Bulldogs On SI
The Gonzaga men’s basketball team clinched an automatic bid into the 2025 NCAA Tournament with a 58-51 win over Saint Mary’s in the West Coast Conference tournament championship game Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs (25-8, 14-4 WCC) secured a spot in their 26th consecutive NCAA Tournament after clamping down on the Gaels (28-5, 17-1 WCC) defensively while overcoming a poor shooting night from beyond the arc. Despite knocking down just one 3-pointer in 15 attempts, the Zags managed to score 20 points off 18 turnovers, highlighted by a monster alley-oop dunk from Khalif Battle in the final minute that essentially sealed Gonzaga’s 22nd WCC championship title.
Braden Huff, making his second career start, led the way with 18 points and had the game’s only made 3-pointer. Battle added 14 and Graham Ike scored 11 points. Ike took home WCC Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors and was named to the all-tournament team alongside Battle.
Here’s what Few had to say after the game.
“That was a great, great college basketball game. Two teams just competing at the highest level, incredibly physical; and again, like I said out there on the court, I just want to tip my hat to Saint Mary’s. I mean they brought the best out in us over the years, and again, that was the case tonight. I mean, they made us dig deeper, and I think we played the most physical game we’ve played all year. I think we made a jump with just being nastier and maybe dictating some things with our defense, and to turn that team over 18 times was huge. To win a grinder like that I think says a lot about these guys.”
“I don’t know that. I mean we’ve certainly spent a lot of time on in-game stuff. We’ve had an inordinate amount of one-possession games. I think that’s why we’re such an interesting seed going into this NCAA Tournament. I think we’re [338th] in luck on KenPom and we’ve got more banked 3s on us than I could ever, ever remember in my entire career. But whether it’s law of averages coming through or just resiliency and working on it really and concentrating on it, because it has cost us. Or maybe it’s just desperation by some seniors who don’t want this thing to end. I think it’s probably a combination of those three things.”
“I would say no. We’ve won this tournament a lot, and we’ve dropped not many in this tournament, maybe two or three or something over the years, but it certainly helps. Our guys have always been laser-focused as we get into this next step, and this group will be no different and a lot of it comes down to matchups and then you can’t have a bad night in the NCAA Tournament. Can’t allow yourself to have a bad night. You just got to give whatever it takes.”
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