Gonzaga battles Saint Mary's in 2023 WCC Tournament Championship: Preview
The No. 9 Gonzaga Bulldogs and No. 16 Saint Mary's collide for the right to be crowned West Coast Conference Tournament champions once again.
"It's going to be a battle," Gonzaga's Drew Timme said on the matchup. "It's just another conference championship matchup between us two, which is pretty normal I'd say."
The two conference powerhouses have met in the WCC Tournament in 13 of the past 15 seasons, including five of the last seven championship games. The conference tournament has been won by either Zags or Gaels in each of the last 13 seasons, with the former accounting for 10 of those.
For Timme, who is 3-0 against the Gaels in the postseason, there's a mutual respect and distaste between the two WCC rivals.
"It's kind of like a controlled rage that happens between the two programs," Timme said. "We don't like each other. But at the same time, we respect each other. It brings the best out of all of us and it's what the game's all about."
After scoring 17 points in Monday's win over San Francisco, Timme is five points shy of surpassing Frank Burgess as Gonzaga's all-time leading scorer.
Saint Mary's roared back to force overtime before knocking off Gonzaga in Moraga, California in the first meeting this season. The Zags responded in Spokane three weeks later to clinch a share of the conference regular season crown with the Gaels. Now, an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament is at stake for the grudge match.
Like the Zags, the Gaels needed to fend off a furious comeback in the semifinal round to advance. After leading BYU by as many as 26 points in the second half, Saint Mary's found itself in a one-possession game with 30 seconds left. Up five after a Kyle Bowen layup, Logan Johnson rejected Rudi Williams' layup attempt, effectively ending the Cougars' chance at advancing to the championship round.
Alex Lucas' 23 points and four 3-pointers paced the Gaels' offense, which shot 51.1% from the floor.
BYU lit it up from the field in the second half, shooting 64.3% against the WCC's leader in field goal percentage defense. While boasting the nation's fifth-best scoring defense, Saint Mary's ranks No. 7 in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency category.
The Zags' offense struggled to get into a rhythm down the stretch in the first matchup. While scoring 29 points in the second half, Gonzaga committed eight turnovers after having one in the first half. The Zags also tied a season-low with four 3-pointers on the night.
Since then, Gonzaga remained the nation's top-scoring offense, but the Gaels never relinquished the top spot in the standings.
Saint Mary's is led by its All-WCC backcourt tandem Aidan Mahaney (14.7 points per game) and Johnson (14.5 points per game).
Considered the best freshman in the conference, Mahaney tied Gonzaga's Jalen Suggs for the most Freshman of the Week awards with 10. Against the Zags, he accounted for 19 of the Gaels' final 21 points in regulation to force overtime. At the time he was one of three freshmen in the country to average at least 15 points while shooting over 40% from 3-point range.
Lately, though, Johnson has taken on more of the offensive load heading into the postseason. The fifth-year guard is averaging 23 points on 58.2% shooting from the floor, including 45.8% from deep, over his last seven games.
Defensively, Johnson was among the conference's top three in defensive rating and defensive win shares.
For Gonzaga head coach Mark Few, though, the Gaels have always been defined by more than just one individual player.
"It's about how together they are on the defensive end and they don't make mistakes on the offensive end," Few said. "They all play to their strengths."
The Zags go for their fourth consecutive WCC Tournament crown on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
