WCC Tournament: Saint Mary’s v. #2 Gonzaga

Who will WIN the championship?

Saint Mary’s Gaels (26-7)

#2 Gonzaga Bulldogs (30-2)

Current odds:

Saint Mary’s Gaels: (+375)

#2 Gonzaga Bulldogs: (-500)

• The line for this game is Gonzaga by 9 points.

• Second-ranked Gonzaga returns to the championship game of the West Coast Conference Tournament for a 23rd consecutive year Tuesday night. The Zags will be trying to cut down the nets for the 17th time during that span when they face the team that defeated them in last year’s title game – third-seeded Saint Mary’s – at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. For a good portion during Monday night’s semifinal against San Francisco, it was no sure bet that Mark Few’s squad would continue its remarkable championship game run as the Dons took a 68-67 lead with 5:03 remaining on a 3-pointer by Jordan Ratinho. But sophomore guard Joel Ayayi took over down the stretch, scoring eight of his 14 points, and senior forward Killian Tillie sealed the victory with a pair of free throws with 5.9 seconds remaining to cap off the third double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) of his career. “I just love it,” Tillie, the most outstanding player of the 2018 WCC Tourney when he averaged 24 points and sank 13-of-14 3-pointers, said of playing at the Orleans Arena. “Zag fans always here. Even though it’s in Vegas, they always come, make the trip. I like the gym.”

• Another player who obviously enjoys the surroundings is Saint Mary’s guard Jordan Ford, who hit a game-winning pull-up jumper with 1.4 seconds to go to give the Gaels a hard-fought 51-50 victory over second seed BYU in Monday night’s other semifinal.

• The 6-10 Tillie, one of three Zags named to the All-WCC first team, passed the 1,000-point mark for his career (1,014) in the win over San Francisco and is third on the team in scoring (13.8) while also grabbing 5.2 rebounds per game and shooting 40.2 percent from 3-point range. Filip Petrusev, a 6-11 sophomore forward, leads the team in scoring (17.7) and rebounding (7.8) and garnered WCC Player of the Year honors while junior forward Corey Kispert, who is second in scoring (13.9), also was selected to the all-WCC first team and leads the team by making 44 percent of his 175 3-point attempts. Three other Zags are also averaging in double figures – guard Admon Gilder (10.5), Ayayi (10.4) and guard Ryan Woolridge (10.3).

• It has been a tournament to remember so far for Ford, who also scored 42 points – including the last seven of the game – in the Gaels’ 89-82 double overtime victory over Pepperdine in the quarterfinals. Ford scored a game-high 17 points in last year’s title game when Saint Mary’s ended Gonzaga’s six-year reign as WCC Tournament champions with a 60-47 victory over the Zags, snapping Gonzaga’s 18-game WCC tourney winning streak in the process. Ford, who averaged a team-best 21.2 points in the regular season, and 6-8 junior forward Malik Fitts, who was fourth in the WCC in scoring (16.9) while also averaging 7.1 rebounds, were both first team all-WCC selections.

• Gonzaga is 44-5 in the WCC Tournament under coach Mark Few.

• The Zags lead the nation in scoring (87.5) and also scoring margin (19.6).

• Ford has scored 1,902 career points, which is second in school history – 31 points behind leader Matthew Dellavedova (1,933).