Saint Mary’s is locked into a berth in the NCAA Tournament but the No. 19 Gaels badly want to add the West Coast Conference tournament championship to their regular-season title.
Not to forget that top-seeded Saint Mary’s is the defending tournament champion as it goes into Tuesday’s title contest against second-seeded Gonzaga at Las Vegas.
This is the fourth straight season that the Gaels (28-4) and Bulldogs (24-8) will meet in the championship game. Gonzaga won the first two before Saint Mary’s notched a 69-60 victory 12 months ago.
The two teams are meeting in the title game for the sixth time in the past seven seasons. This also is the 28th straight campaign that the Bulldogs are in the WCC title game.
“Some of these streaks are just crazy,” Bulldogs coach Mark Few said late Monday night. “… To make it 28 straight years is unbelievable. It’s not as unbelievable as making the (NCAA) Tournament 27 times, but it’s right up there.”
Saint Mary’s swept the season series from the Zags and has won four of the past five meetings.
The Gaels reached the title game with Monday’s 74-59 semifinal victory over ninth-seeded Pepperdine. Gonzaga advanced with an 85-76 victory over third-seeded San Francisco.
“It’s always tough against Gonzaga,” Saint Mary’s forward Luke Barrett said before knowing the Bulldogs would be the opponent. “It’s going to come down to us.”
Barrett and fellow seniors Augustas Marciulionis and Mitchell Saxen next week will become the first Saint Mary’s players to play in four straight NCAA Tournaments.
Against Pepperdine, Paulius Murauskas collected 15 points and 10 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season as the Gaels stretched their winning streak to eight games. Marciulionis, the two-time WCC Player of the Year, also scored 15 points and added seven rebounds and five assists for the Gaels, who had a dominating 45-22 rebounding advantage.
“We just wore them down on the boards,” Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett said. “I thought we played well until the last six minutes.”
Gonzaga put up 50 second-half points in its 85-76 victory over San Francisco. Graham Ike had 27 points and 10 rebounds and Khalif Battle scored 21 points.
Battle, a transfer, isn’t interested in going 0-3 against the Gaels. He said his team has to counter Saint Mary’s attempts to slow down the pace.
“Offensively, everybody knows the Zags can score with the best of them,” Battle said. “I’m excited about the matchup. I’m looking forward to this and now it’s time to get the job done.”
Ike fared well in both losses to the Gaels this season, averaging 21.5 points on 17-of-30 shooting.
His take on the latest matchup is simplistic.
“We got to play great defense and keep them off the offensive boards,” Ike said.
Saint Mary’s won the first matchup 62-58 on Feb. 1 in its cozy gym in Moraga, Calif. Mikey Lewis led the Gaels with 16 points off the bench.
In the second contest, Saint Mary’s recorded a 74-67 victory over the Bulldogs in Spokane, Wash., on Feb. 22. Lewis again stood out, making five 3-pointers and scoring 18 points as the Gaels clinched the WCC regular-season crown.
Gonzaga also has no worries in terms of making the NCAA tourney but Few definitely doesn’t want to go winless against the Gaels this season.
“They have a great culture and they know who they are,” Few said of Bennett and Saint Mary’s. “They play to that and they are very purposeful and are really good at what they do.
“But we’re also really good at what we do.”
–Field Level Media
