Gonzaga's Braden Huff on finishing 2nd to Saint Mary's in the WCC: 'It leaves a bitter taste in our mouths'
The Gonzaga Bulldogs have no shortage of motivation to win the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas.
On a larger scale, the program's 22nd conference title would secure it a spot in the 2024 NCAA Tournament with an automatic bid. Internally, the Zags will look to rectify not winning the league's regular season title, which went to Saint Mary's outright for the first time since 2012. There is also an added boost from not having any representation on the WCC individual awards handed out earlier this week.
"There's, I think, some motivation for some guys on our team and I think we're gonna use that," said Braden Huff at Gonzaga's media availability on Thursday. "Just come out strong these next couple of games."
Here's more of what Huff had to say days before the Bulldogs' WCC semifinal game in Las Vegas:
On being named to the All-WCC freshman team:
"It was really cool. I joke, I say I kind of cheated the award system with the redshirt year. But yeah ... it's really cool getting that recognition."
On leaning on the experiences of upperclassmen for his first postseason:
"I mean, Anton, Ben. Ben in the past has definitely had a similar role that I had this year so that's a big guy. Even some of the transfers, Ryan, Graham. Ryan made a deep run in the [NCAA] Tournament last year, so just kind of gaining knowledge from those guys and seeing how they prepare for these big games has been great for me and just kind of soaking in all the knowledge I can. I think that's kind of been the thing I've been trying to do since day one, and just continue to do that as much as I can."
On the challenges of staying ready on the bench:
"That's definitely been, as I talked about, just one of the things I'm trying to embrace this year. I mean, it's great seeing Graham go off, that's what I think really helped propel us to this next level. But yeah, just doing whatever I can to help the team win was kind of the biggest thing for me above all, that's what I value most."
You can watch the full interview with Huff in the video above.
