What Gonzaga's players said after WCC championship win vs. Saint Mary's

The Bulldogs are officially dancing once again

Gonzaga Bulldogs center Ismaila Diagne (24) and guard Ryan Nembhard (0) celebrate against the Saint Mary's Gaels during the second half in the final of the West Coast Conference tournament at Orleans Arena / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

The Gonzaga men's basketball team punched its ticket to the 2025 NCAA Tournament with a 58-51 win over Saint Mary's in the West Coast Conference tournament championship game Tuesday night.

It certainly wasn't the first time the Bulldogs (25-8, 14-4 WCC) had to grind out a victory over their league rival on the biggest stage, and it certainly wasn't the first time they had to execute down the stretch of a close game to get the job done either.

But for Graham Ike, Ryan Nembhard and Khalif Battle — three players who've played nearly 380 games combined in their college careers — it was their first time cutting down the nets as conference champions.

Here's what Ike, Nembhard and Battle had to say after Gonzaga's win over Saint Mary's.

Battle on Gonzaga's confidence levels throughout moments of adversity this season:

"We've been confident the whole year. We gotta go through some hardships in order to win and coach taught us that. Every practice go through 'Zag time' — it's just about winning. We've been practicing for this moment. I think we were prepared more than ever going to this tournament. So I'm just happy everyone's able to be hoisting the trophy at the end."

Ike on Braden Huff's big night in his second career start:

"It is special because we've been talking about this for a while, and I just know he's built for it. Through thick and thin, he's always had my back if I'm not playing well, and I always have his back when he's not playing well. He stepped up to the plate tonight. I told him — he didn't miss that floater with about 8 minutes left and I was like man, you could tell that next one was cash money. And we needed that big time. Just proud of him for sticking with it through the whole season."

Nembhard on how losing to Saint Mary's twice in the regular season forced Gonzaga to get better for round three:

"I think a combination of things throughout the year forced us to get better. There was two [losses] in a row and that kind of woke everybody up. But I think just a combination of everything. They're a great team, they're a great program. They played this tough all year; they have for two years. I think we just had to understand what was on the table, understand what was on the line. And we really wanted to punch our ticket this weekend and I'm glad we could do that."

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW:

MORE GONZAGA NEWS & ANALYSIS

• After winning WCC, Gonzaga makes move in March Madness projections

• What Gonzaga's Mark Few said after WCC championship win vs. Saint Mary's

• NCAA Tournament bound: Gonzaga beats Saint Mary’s to clinch automatic bid

• Gonzaga’s Ben Gregg puts Saint Mary’s star on a poster with vicious dunk

• Could Gonzaga coach be candidate for Big 12 job?

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Continue to follow our Gonzaga coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and following us on Instagram and Twitter.