Gonzaga Nation

Saint Mary's stuns Gonzaga to clinch WCC title: Game recap, analysis

The Zags fell behind 11-0 to start the game and never recovered

Gonzaga Nation Staff

Saint Mary's men's basketball.
Saint Mary's men's basketball. / Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford
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SPOKANE, Wash. — Every time the Gonzaga Bulldogs got close, the Saint Mary's Gaels had an answer.

It ultimately resulted in a stunning 74-67 Saint Mary's victory on Senior Night in Spokane. With the win, the Gaels swept the season series with Gonzaga and clinched the West Coast Conference championship for the third consecutive season.

Saint Mary's (25-4, 15-1) led 41-31 at halftime, but Gonzaga (21-8, 12-4) came out firing in the second half and tied it 46-46 with 12:50 left. The Zags never got any closer — and they never led.

Mikey Lewis led Saint Mary's with 18 points off the bench, including three huge 3-pointers late in the second half. Mitchell Saxen added 16 points and 9 rebounds.

Graham Ike led Gonzaga with 19 points and 5 rebounds and Nolan Hickman scored 14. Ryan Nembhard finished with 11 points and 8 assists.

Saint Mary's dominated the boards, which was the difference in the game. They outrebounded Gonzaga 38-26, including 15-7 on the offensive glass. The Gaels took four more shots than Gonzaga and made four more 3-pointers (8 to 4).

Read our full game recap below.

SECOND HALF RECAP

Saint Mary's 74, Gonzaga 67, final: The Gaels win the WCC. Again. A stunned crowd heads for the exits at the McCarthey Athletic Center. They won't see the Zags in this building again until Craziness in The Kennel in October.

SMC 72, Gonzaga 63, 2:01 to play: The Gaels continue to hit big shots and are close to putting this game away.

SMC 67, Gonzaga 57, 4:45 to play: Every time the Zags get close, the Gaels go on a run. This time it's a 9-0 run to take a double-digit lead with under 5 minutes left.

Both teams in bonus: With 6:37 to play both SMC and Gonzaga have committed 7 team fouls.

SMC 55, Gonzaga 53, 7:45 to play: This is a high-level ballgame between two outstanding teams. The Gaels still lead because they have 14 offensive rebounds. Mitchel Saxen is having a monster game with 16 points and 9 rebounds (4 offensive). Graham Ike has turned it on in the second half and has 13 points and 5 rebounds. Nolan Hickman leads the Zags with 14 points.

Fouls an issue: Both teams have 6 team fouls with 8:51 to play. We might be shooting a lot of free throws down the stretch.

SMC goes cold: Gonzaga is daring the Gaels to shoot 3-pointers and they're 0-of-4 in the second half (4-of-13 for the game). Saint Mary's leads 49-46 with 11:49 left. The officials have already whistled 9 fouls (5 Gonzaga, 4 SMC), which is one more than the entire first half.

Gonzaga 46, SMC 46, 12:51 left: Braden Huff drills a 3-pointer and Michael Ajayi hits 1-of-2 free throws and we have a tie ballgame for the first time since 0-0.

Nolan Hickman 3! The Kennel erupts as Nolan Hickman drills a 3-pointer to cut SMC's lead to 46-42 with 15:30 to play. You cannot hear anything in here.

Gonzaga's zone: The Zags continue to switch between man-to-man and a matchup 2-3 zone in the halfcourt as they try to break the Gaels' rhythm.

SMC 43, Gonzaga 37 17:20 left: Gonzaga comes out in a 1-2-2 press to start the second half and it helps ignite a 6-2 run. The officials are calling it much closer to start the half and have already whistled 4 fouls.

Gonzaga will have the ball to start the second half, trailing by 10.

HALFTIME STATS: SMC 41, GONZAGA 31

With a Senior Night starting lineup that included Joe Few, the Zags fell behind 8-0 in the first two minutes and couldn't claw their way back. Saint Mary's led by as many as 12 points in the first half. SMC big man Mitchell Saxen leads all scorers with 11 points and the Gaels are dominating the boards 20-13.

Ryan Nembhard leads Gonzaga with 7 points and 4 assists, and Nolan Hickman has 7 points, 1 steal and 1 block. Braden Huff, Graham Ike and Khalif Battle all have 4 points apiece. The Zags are 14-of-32 from the field and 2-of-9 from downtown.

The officials are letting them play, which benefits SMC. Only eight fouls were called in the first half and Gonzaga only shot one free throw.

FIRST HALF RECAP

Saint Mary's 41, Gonzaga 31, halftime: Ryan Nembhard misses a short jumper just before the buzzer and the Gaels lead by double digits at the break.

Saint Mary's 36, Gonzaga 27, 4:00 left: Braden Huff scores back-to-back buckets to cut the lead to five, but SMC answers right back with a Paulius Murauskas jumper and two free throws from Jordan Ross. The Zags have trailed the entire half, but this game is being played at their pace. Saint Mary's averages 74.8 points per game, while Gonzaga is second in the nation at 87.8. Also, Khalif Battle had another huge dunk.

Saint Mary's 32, Gonzaga 23, 6:23 left: Nolan Hickman and Ben Gregg miss back-to-back 3-pointers and Mikey Lewis drills one on a great pass from Augustas Marciulionis to give the Gaels a 9-point lead. Timeout Mark Few. The Zags are 2-of-9 from downtown, and SMC is 3-of-6.

Saint Mary's 22, Gonzaga 17, 11:17 left: Game on. The Zags have dug themselves out of an 11-0 hole with full-court pressure, a half-court zone and Ben Gregg snagging offensive rebounds. Ryan Nembhard and Nolan Hickman have 5 points apiece for Gonzaga, and Mitchell Saxen leads Saint Mary's with 9.

Saint Mary's 18, Gonzaga 12, 13:45 left: Offensive rebounds will get you to heaven — and Ben Gregg just snagged one and kicked out to Nolan Hickman for a huge 3-pointer.

Paulius Murauskas foul trouble: SMC's versatile big man — via the Arizona Wildcats — picks up his second foul and heads to the bench with 14:16 left.

Saint Mary's 15, Gonzaga 7, 15:26 left: The Gaels are pounding Gonzaga in the paint, led by Mitchell Saxen's 7 points. Saint Mary's has 12 of its 15 points in the paint.

Saint Mary's 9, Gonzaga 0, 17:50 left: The Gaels go to work in the paint, getting 5 quick points from Mitchell Saxen to jump out to an early lead. Joe Few started and played the first 2:10 of the game.

We're underway in Spokane. Tipoff was 5:08 p.m. Mark Few is starting his seniors on Senior Night — including his son Joe Few.

PREGAME UPDATES

They brought in the big guns for this game. Kipp Kissinger, one of the best officials in college basketball, is the lead official. Kissinger will be working the Final Four this season.

The Senior Night festivities have concluded and The Kennel is going crazy, as usual. Tipoff is about 10 minutes away.

After camping out for tickets during the week, Gonzaga's student section arrived early and is ready to go. Tipoff is scheduled for just after 5 p.m. PT on ESPN2

Gonzaga's student section before the Saint Mary's game.
Gonzaga's student section before the Saint Mary's game. / Gonzaga Bulldogs On SI

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Gonzaga Nation Staff
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