Jalen Suggs Slams Door on BYU as Gonzaga Rallies to Win WCC Title, Stay Unbeaten
March Madness is truly wild, and while Gonzaga is still undefeated, it has Jalen Suggs and his late-game heroics to thank after almost suffering its first loss of the season during the WCC championship.
However, the Zags walked away with a conference title and are just six wins away from making history. Gonzaga (26-0) is the 16th school in history to enter the NCAA tournament undefeated, and it is the first team to enter March Madness undefeated since Kentucky in 2015.
And, the program largely owes Tuesday night's 88–78 come-from-behind victory over BYU to Suggs, who tallied 23 points and walked away as the WCC Most Outstanding Player.
Gonzaga came close to letting its undefeated season slip away as it headed into halftime down 53–41 after a blistering first-half shooting performance by the Cougars. It didn't take the lead until less than seven minutes remained, and a combination of Suggs and Joel Ayayi made sure the Zags kept the course.
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However, it was Suggs who edged the program to victory thanks to back-to-back three-pointers in the final two-and-half minutes. Thanks to Suggs taking over down the stretch, Gonzaga ended up tying its third-largest halftime comeback in any game since Mark Few became head coach in 1999–00.
Take a bow, Suggs, and get ready to dance.