Gonzaga holds off BYU in WCC thriller

It may be too late to convince the NCAA selection committee, but Gonzaga and Brigham Young both made compelling cases for why they need to be in the conversation later this week when the committee meets in New York to pick this year’s field of 68.

In what was as hard-fought a game as March can produce, the Bulldogs held off the Cougars, 88-84, to earn a spot in the West Coast Conference title game at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Orleans Arena.

“It was a great, epic ballgame,” said Gonzaga coach Mark Few, whose team will face Saint Mary’s for the championship. “They play so stinkin’ hard. They come at you, come at you for 40 minutes. No lead is ever safe.”

With an announced crowd of 8,362 in a frenzy from before the opening tip and a nationwide audience watching on ESPN2, the stage was set for a slugfest, the kind of basketball street fight one sees on an urban playground where if you lose, you’re not going to see the court for a long while.

But this was even tougher because the stakes were so much higher. The WCC isn’t getting much love from the bracketologists who consider it a one-bid league. Saint Mary’s, the No. 1 seed which had handled Pepperdine in the first semifinal, 81-66, is believed to be the most qualified to come out of the WCC.

And that’s what made Monday so compelling. Both Gonzaga and BYU were trying to prove they passed the eye test, that they were NCAA-worthy, that RPI, KenPom and all the other analytics deployed in building one’s case before the committee was a bunch of basketball hooey.

It was tied at the half 47-47, despite Kyle Wiltjer putting on a show for Gonzaga with 17 first-half points and Nick Emery trying to match him with 14 for BYU. Bodies were flying everywhere and it was just good, hard, clean basketball, the kind one would expect at this time of the year with so much riding on the outcome.

The Cougars started fast in the final 20 minutes, going up 50-47. But Gonzaga, which was a 3-point betting favorite, ran off nine straight to lead 56-50. The run grew to 12-2 and a 59-52 lead.

BYU enjoys a lot of freedom on offense from coach Dave Rose. He trusts they will make good decisions, share the ball and keep feeding the hot guy. And as Emery continued to benefit from his teammates’ looking for him, the Zags had to make sure Emery didn’t have help.

Kyle Collinsworth, the WCC’s Player of the Year, did his best to help Emery, who had 27 points keep the Cougars in it. But he was having to deal with Gonzaga’s Domantas Sabonis. The Bulldogs’ sophomore 6-foot-11-inch big man, was able to match up physically with the 6-6 Collinsworth. He forced him into a tough shooting night as Collinsworth had 16 points on 7-of-17 shooting.

Despite getting double- and triple-teamed every time he caught the ball in the paint, Sabonis was still able to finish with 18 points along with 14 rebounds.

But when Gonzaga needed its own go-to guy, it went to Wiltjer. He is a bundle of head fakes, drop steps and quick releases and he finished with 29 points. His 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:51 left gave Gonzaga a bit of breathing room as the lead extended to 81-74 after BYU pulled within 71-70 with 5:29 to play.

“It was a great game to be part of,” Wiltjer said. “Both teams were fighting for their lives and putting it on the line.”

Collinsworth added, “As a player, you couldn’t ask for a better atmosphere. Both teams played hard and battled. We just came up a bit short.”

But the Gonzaga players stopped short of seeing BYU as a rival.

“We have a great deal of respect for them,” Wiltjer said. “They’re nice guys.”

Josh Perkins, Gonzaga’s redshirt freshman guard who finished with 17 points, summed it up. “That game was crazy. But the real rivalry is tomorrow (vs. Saint Mary’s.)”

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj