Gonzaga outlasts San Francisco, advances to WCC championship game vs. Saint Mary's: 3 takeaways

Gonzaga's streak of playing in the West Coast Conference tournament championship game was kept intact Monday with an 85-76 victory over San Francisco in the semifinal round.

With the win, the Bulldogs are set to appear in the WCC title game for an astounding 28th postseason in a row. And as usual, the team standing in their way of clinching an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament is Saint Mary's. Tuesday night will mark the fourth consecutive and the seventh time in the last nine years that the WCC championship will feature the Zags and Gaels, the two teams who've combined to win the last 16 conference tournaments dating back to 2008.

Here's three takeaways from Monday's win over the Dons:

GRAHAM IKE SETS THE TONE IN THE SECOND HALF

Trailing 37-35 at halftime, the Zags came out of the locker room determined to regain momentum by playing through their All-WCC first team forward Graham Ike. The 6-foot-9 Aurora, Colorado, native scored on four consecutive post-up plays to start the second half, which turned Gonzaga's narrow deficit into a 4-point lead that was slowly but surely expanded upon over the next 17 minutes and change.

The Dons did, however, manage to make it a 62-61 game with just over 7 minutes left to play, as Ike picked up his third foul while trying to defend 7-foot-2, 250-pound senior forward Saba Gigiberia on a hookshot that wound up dropping through the contact anyway. Perhaps that would've been a key play for the Dons as they headed down the stretch looking to regain the lead, but only if Ike hadn't rectified his mistake on the other end of the floor with back-to-back buckets, a including a 3-point play of his own, to push Gonzaga's advantage back to six points.

Ike finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal in 27 minutes of action. Despite facing constant pressure and double-teams from the Dons, Ike shot 9-of-13 from the field and 9-of-11 from the charity stripe while committing two turnovers in the process.

"We kind of prepared for it all week," Ike said of San Francisco's double-teams. "So just taking our time with it, trying to go quick if we have time but if we don't, just making the right play. Now we're getting available — [Michael Ajayi] had one nasty dunk in the first half that was pretty nice, and he just made himself available. Kudos to my teammates for giving to me, and I'm gonna give it right back."

ZAGS COOL OFF RYAN BEASLEY

It's been quite the 10-day stretch for Ryan Beasley. After going to the hospital to treat an injured ankle he suffered during the regular season finale against the Bulldogs on March 1, San Francisco's sophomore guard dropped a career-high 29 points to help guide the shorthanded Dons past Washington State in the quarterfinal round on Sunday.

Without All-WCC guard Marcus Williams in the lineup due to a violation in NCAA rules, San Francisco needed all the help it could get from its supporting cast surrounding the team's leading scorer, Malik Thomas. The 6-foot-5 senior and fellow All-WCC guard delivered on a few tough jumpers from outside the arc against the Zags on Monday, but Thomas' 27 points, eight rebounds and four assists still weren't enough because he didn't have much help down the stretch to pull off the upset.

Beasley appeared to have picked up right where he left Sunday off by scoring San Francisco's first seven points on Monday, though he wouldn't score again until a 3-pointer at the end of the first half brought his total on the night to 10 points. From there, Beasley scored three points the rest of the night and finished with 13 points on 5-of-13 from the field to go along with five assists.

"I mean that's an NCAA Tournament caliber team," Few said of San Francisco. "Great size, incredible guard [Ryan] Beasley; he's just been heroic these last two nights coming back from his ankle. [Malik] Thomas was spectacular, and Chris [Gerlufsen] does a great job.

ANOTHER SAINT MARY'S SHOWDOWN

There's perhaps not a more frequent rivalry in college basketball these days than the one played between Gonzaga and Saint Mary's. The two schools are set to meet in the WCC championship game for a whopping 15th time since 2004 and have combined to win all but two conference tournaments since 1999 (San Diego won both exceptions in 2003 and 2008). And while the Zags have ascended to national prominence over the last two decades, the Gaels have also become a regular in the NCAA Tournament as of late with three consecutive trips and likely a fourth on the way.

"Just from where their program came, when I first got in as an assistant, and then actually, when Randy [Bennett] took over; he's just done an amazing job," Few said of the Gaels' rise over the last two decades. "I think the interesting thing is we've had two head coaches that have stayed a really good long time, and their staffs have stayed relatively intact or they hired former players and things like that. I think that's the other thing that makes it really, really special. And I think both teams have always done it the right way, and so it's been great."

"The last couple games have went their way but again, they were hard fought and almost down to the last possession in most cases," Few said of the last couple of head-to-head meetings with the Gaels. "We got to keep them off the glass and keep finding ways to score against that stingy defense and see if we can create some turnovers and get out and run."

MORE GONZAGA NEWS & ANALYSIS

What Gonzaga's Mark Few said after WCC semifinal win vs. San Francisco

Gonzaga's Michael Ajayi throws down monster dunk in WCC Tournament semifinal vs. San Francisco

What Gonzaga's players said ahead of West Coast Conference Tournament

Where Gonzaga stands in updated NCAA Tournament projections

Could Gonzaga coach be candidate for Big 12 job?

College basketball expert picks Gonzaga as one of his national championship favorites

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