Gonzaga Bulldogs crowned WCC Tournament champions with win vs. Saint Mary's

The Bulldogs punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament

Cole Forsman | Mar 12, 2025

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Khalif Battle (99) and forward Graham Ike (13). / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

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Gonzaga Bulldogs

The Gonzaga men's basketball team was crowned champions of the West Coast Conference tournament after shutting down Saint Mary's in a 58-51 final from the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

The Bulldogs (25-8, 14-4 WCC) forced the Gaels (28-5, 17-1 WCC) into a season-high 18 turnovers, none more costly than a bad pass with 36 seconds left that resulted in a monster alley-oop dunk from Khalif Battle. The big-time finish made it a 9-point game and essentially punched the Zags' ticket to the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

Braden Huff led the way with 18 points, Battle had 14 and Graham Ike scored 11 points. Ike was named the WCC Tournament's Most Valuable Player after averaging 19.5 points in the Bulldogs' two wins over San Francisco and Saint Mary's.

Mitchell Saxen scored a season-high 20 points for Saint Mary's.

Here is the live updates recap:

FINAL: GONZAGA 58, SAINT MARY'S 51

2ND HALF RECAP:

Khalif Battle throws down big-time dunk: The Gaels' 18th turnover of the night could be the most costly. Nolan Hickman found Khalif Battle on a 2-on-1 fastbreak with an alley-oop pass, extending Gonzaga's lead to 59-48 with 36 seconds remaining.

Gonzaga 54, Saint Mary's 49 (1:44): Braden Huff put the Bulldogs back up by seven with a floater off a dish from Ryan Nembhard, his sixth of the night. Mitchell Saxen responded with a short floater himself, snapping another extended scoring drought for the Gaels. Saint Mary's is 0-of-14 from downtown.

Gonzaga 52, Saint Mary's 47 (3:06): Both teams have been willing to do whatever it takes defensively down the stretch of this WCC championship game. Gonzaga forced Saint Mary's into a shot clock violation for the third time this half, though the Zags couldn't capitalize after the Gaels stayed disciplined themselves. Saint Mary's has committed a season-high 16 turnovers to Gonzaga's three.

Gonzaga 50, Saint Mary's 46 (6:12): Luke Barrett snaps the Gaels' 7-minute long scoring drought with a score in the paint, followed by a hook shot from Mitchell Saxen over the outstretched arms of Graham Ike. Saxen has 18 points and seven rebounds in 33 minutes and counting, tying the senior's season high he's set twice before this season.

Gonzaga 48, Saint Mary's 42 (7:37): Safe to say the WCC championship has been decided entirely in the paint thus far; the Zags and Gaels are a combined 1-for-26 from behind the arc after Mikey Lewis misfired on the Gaels' 13th attempt from behind the arc. Huff's 3 from the first half is the only 3-pointer of the night.

Gonzaga 48, Saint Mary's 42 (10:17): Gonzaga's fans have some juice after Mikey Lewis mishandled an errant pass, leading to a fastbreak score for Khalif Battle. A questionable foul call on Braden Huff while boxing out gave the Orleans crowd even more to get fired up about.

Gonzaga 44, Saint Mary's 42 (11:54): Gaels continue to apply foul pressure with strong drives to the rim from their perimeter players. Despite not having a made basket in over 3 minutes, Saint Mary's has hung around via the charity stripe, where its gone 10-of-13 so far tonight. Three of Gonzaga's starters have three fouls: Ryan Nembhard, Graham Ike and Khalif Battle.

Gonzaga 42, Saint Mary's 39 (14:22): Graham Ike ends Gonzaga's lengthy scoring drought with a turnaround jumper to make it a 3-point game. Ike has nine points on 4-of-10 from the field.

Gonzaga 40, Saint Mary's 37 (15:27): Bulldogs still hold a narrow 3-point edge over the Gaels despite misfiring on their last five shot attempts. Saint Mary's got on the board first coming out of the locker room after Mitchell Saxen put down a dunk to get the second half started. Since Gonzaga made eight of its first 11 field goal attempts, it's gone 9-of-29 from the field.

HALFTIME: GONZAGA 33, SAINT MARY'S 31

The Bulldogs led by as many as 11 points in the first half before the Gaels rallied back behind Mitchell Saxen, who led all scorers with 14 points and combined with Harry Wessels to score nine of their team's final 11 points of the first half. Led by its frontcourt tandem, Saint Mary's won the battle on the boards in the first half, 23-14, but only had five second-chance points off eight offensive rebounds.

Graham Ike and Braden Huff haven't shared the floor much this season, though that inexperience of playing alongside one another didn't seem to impact their productivity out of the gate. Ike and Huff combined to score their team's first nine points and finished the first half with 16 points together.

Mark Few noted how important turnovers would be in deciding the final outcome of the WCC championship, and it seems his team took that message to heart. Eleven of Gonzaga's points in the first half came off seven turnovers from the Gaels. The Bulldogs scored nine points off turnovers in each of the previous two head-to-head meetings with Saint Mary's.

1ST HALF RECAP

Ryan Nembhard receives technical foul from the bench: Gonzaga's senior guard was assessed a technical foul from Gonzaga's bench as the Gaels looked to drain the clock down the stretch of the first half. Gaels go 2-for-2 at the foul line with possession.

Gonzaga 31, Saint Mary's 28 (1:09): The Gaels have cut it a game after Mitchell Saxen went 2-for-2 at the charity stripe, as the Gaels have built an 8-0 scoring run while the Zags have gone scoreless over the last 2 minutes and change.

Gonzaga 30, Saint Mary's 20 (4:00): Ryan Nembhard's been most comfortable in the pick-and-roll game early on. The senior guard is up to six points and four assists after a jumper from close range puts the Bulldogs back up by double-digits. Zags endured a cold stretch prior to making three of their last four from the field, allowing the Gaels to cut the lead down to seven after Gonzaga had went up by 11 earlier. Saint Mary's has scored off just one of their six offensive rebounds.

Gonzaga 24, Saint Mary's 17 (7:39): Mikey Lewis gets fouled by Michael Ajayi while knocking down a jumper in the process, cutting the Gaels' deficit to seven with under 8 minutes left in the half. Gaels have made five of their last six looks following a 3-for-13 start from the field. Mitchell Saxen has eight of his team's last 10 points.

Gonzaga 24, Saint Mary's 15 (8:26): Emmanuel Innocenti hounds Augustas Marciulionis into a held ball scenario, resulting in a possession change in favor of the Zags. Gonzaga has forced five turnovers already.

Gonzaga 22, Saint Mary's 11 (10:55): The Bulldogs have built a double-digit advantage via some stout play defensively. Gonzaga has scored nine points off four turnovers from Saint Mary's. Braden Huff had a good stretch with a 3-pointer from the top of the arc, followed by a block on the other end of the floor. Huff's hit three 3-pointers since the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament — all have come against Saint Mary's.

Ben Gregg throws down monster dunk over Mitchell Saxen: Ben Gregg snuck backdoor by Mitchell Saxen before punishing the two-time WCC Defensive Player of the Year with a monster two-hand dunk off a feed from Braden Huff, putting the Zags up 20-7 with 13:29 left in the first half.

Gonzaga 11, Saint Mary's 5 (15:26): Zags are already off to a much better start compared to their last meeting against the Gaels in Spokane. Gonzaga's frontcourt of Graham Ike and Braden Huff has scored nine of their team's 11 points, while the Gaels have misfired on six of their first eight looks from the field.

Gonzaga 7, Saint Mary's 3 (16:56): Khalif Battle finds Graham Ike for an and-one score after Luke Barrett picked up his first personal foul of the game. Ike has five of his team's seven points early on.

Gonzaga 2, Saint Mary's (19:39): An unorthodoxed first possession for the Bulldogs still winds up ending in a score, as Graham Ike knocked down a turnaround jumper that hit every part of the rim before going down.