Gonzaga Bulldogs 89, San Francisco Dons 77: Live updates recap, highlights from 2024 WCC Tournament semifinals
Mark Few's impressive streak of playing in the West Coast Conference championship game remains alive after his Gonzaga Bulldogs pulled away for an 89-77 win over the San Francisco Dons in the semifinal round on Thursday.
Gonzaga (25-6, 14-2 WCC) had to shake off some rust from not playing in over a week, as it trailed by as many as eight points in the first half and struggled to get into a rhythm. An 11-2 scoring run to close the first half made it a 38-37 game at halftime, as the two WCC heavyweights battled in another tough first half much like the first two matchups.
And once again, Gonzaga pulled away late in the second half. Ben Gregg awakened the overwhelming Bulldogs crowd at the Orleans Arena with four 3-pointers in the second half to put his team ahead by double-digits. Nolan Hickman added 15 in the second half as Gonzaga shot 62.1% from the floor in the final 20 minutes of play.
Hickman led with 20 points, Gregg and Anton Watson had 17 apiece and Ryan Nembhard added 16 points and 12 assists. Gregg also had 11 rebounds.
San Francisco (23-10, 11-5 WCC) fought behind the efforts of Malik Thomas, who finished with 22 points. The Dons went 11-for-31 from behind the arc. Marcus Williams added 17, Ryan Beasley had 10 and Jonathan Mogbo had 10 points and nine rebounds.
Gonzaga will play Saint Mary's in the championship game on Tuesday at 6 pm.
Here are the live updates:
FINAL: Gonzaga 89, San Francisco 77
SECOND HALF:
Gonzaga 83, San Francisco 70 (3:48): Watson cleaned up a miss from Ike with a putback layup. Beasley got the score right back with a driving layup past Ike, who was called for goaltending while trying to block the shot.
Gonzaga 81, San Francisco 68 (5:03): Zags and Dons traded blows late in the second half. Beasley's 3-pointer with 5:07 left made it a 13-point game. Hickman scored seven-straight points with a 3-pointer and two baskets close to the rim.
Gonzaga 72, San Francisco 58 (7:41): Williams continued to be a threat from the outside with his third 3-pointer of the night to trim into the Dons' deficit. Watson countered with a score off a feed from Hickman, followed by a fastbreak score from Thomas after a missed layup from Nembhard.
Gonzaga 68, San Francisco 52 (10:27): Shots from behind the arc continued to fall for the Zags, as Huff knocked down a contested triple off an extra pass Hickman. Gonzaga made 10 of its first 13 shots from the field while San Francisco started the second half 5-of-15 from the field.
Gonzaga 63, San Francisco 47 (13:32): Back-to-back triples from Gregg in transition sent the overwhelming Gonzaga crowd into a frenzy, as the Zags commanded their largest lead of the night following the 9-0 scoring run.
Gonzaga 51, San Francisco 43 (15:34): Bulldogs came out of the locker room hot with five makes in their first six shots. Gregg knocked down his second 3-pointer of the half after Hickman got a floater to go. Mogbo gave the Dons life with a pair of scores inside the arc on back-to-back possessions.
Gonzaga 45, San Francisco 39 (17:49): Gregg converted his first 3-pointer of the night to give the Bulldogs their largest lead of the night. Hickman got the half started with a floater, followed by a driving layup from Watson. San Francisco missed three of its first four shots from the field.
HALFTIME: Gonzaga 38, San Francisco 37: Bulldogs closed the half strong with an 11-2 scoring run after Mogbo's floater counted before the buzzer sounded. Nembhard led with 11 points and five assists with no turnovers. Gonzaga scored 10 points off seven turnovers from San Francisco.
FIRST HALF:
Gonzaga 36, San Francisco 35 (0:54): Bulldogs rattled off a 9-0 scoring run to regain the lead following a 3-pointer from the top of the arc from Stromer.
San Francisco 35, Gonzaga 29 (2:26): Williams got a layup in traffic followed by a 3-pointer in the corner from Beasley to push the Dons' lead to eight points. Watson finished inside to stop the bleeding momentarily. Ike was held to four points on 2-of-7 shooting early against the swarming San Francisco defense.
San Francisco 28, Gonzaga 23 (6:52): Miscommunication defensively left Newbury wide open for the Dons' sixth 3-pointer of the half, prompting a timeout from Mark Few. Gonzaga started 8-of-21 from the floor.
San Francisco 16, Gonzaga 12 (11:46): Gonzaga went nearly four minutes without a basket with Ike on the bench. Williams fueled the Dons attack with nine points early, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Gonzaga 7, San Francisco 5 (15:57): Watson got the Bulldogs offense going with an alley-oop dunk from Nembhard, followed by an open 3-pointer in front of the Dons' bench. Gregg brought the energy on the boards and defensively. San Francisco wasted no time double teaming Ike down low.
