Gonzaga takes down St. Mary’s for conference title to go with No. 1 ranking

Put them on the top line — with a Sharpie.

Top-ranked Gonzaga made a compelling case Monday for being a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, using a stifling defense and riding the broad shoulders of its big men to dethrone defending champion Saint Mary’s 65-51 in the West Coast Conference tournament final at Orleans Arena.

“It was a complete game,” coach Mark Few said.

With a mostly pro-Gonzaga packed house of 7,896 chanting “Number 1!” the Bulldogs (31-2) lived up to their ranking. They held Saint Mary’s (27-6) scoreless for a 6:07 span in the first half, when they forged a double-digit lead, and shut down Gaels senior guard Matt Dellavedova. He was held to two points in 40 minutes, shooting 1-for-8 overall, 0-for-4 on 3-point attempts.

Gonzaga consistently double-teamed Dellavedova in the frontcourt, not giving him much room to display the talents that made him Saint Mary’s career leader in points and assists.

“They did the same thing to me in the first two games,” said Dellavedova, who had seven assists. “They were aggressive trapping.”

But it wasn’t just about shutting down Dellavedova. Gonzaga defended well all over the court, and the presence of 7-foot junior Kelly Olynyk, the WCC player of the year, around the basket was too much for the Gaels.

Early in the second half, he had a running start at the basket and finished with a flying highlight dunk. Olynyk finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

As good as Olynyk was, Elias Harris was his nearly his equal. The 6-foot-8-inch senior forward carved up Saint Mary’s in the paint and gained tournament Most Valuable Player honors after finishing with 19 points.

“I don’t think we did a great job on Harris,” Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett said. “He out-toughed us.

“Our margin for error was so slim. Against a team like Gonzaga, you are going to have to play better. You are going to have to make shots. It’s as simple as that.”

As Gonzaga’s lead expanded to 19 with 13:40 to play, thoughts began turning to Sunday’s NCAA tourney selection show.

The Zags never have been seeded higher than No. 2, as they were in 2004.

“We need to enjoy our victories and success when they come,” Olynyk said. “But we also need to be short-minded. It’s not the end of the year for us, and we have more to do. We want to come out and make some noise in the (NCAA) tournament and play deep into March.”

Before Monday’s game, the WCC announced it signed a three-year extension to keep the tournament at Orleans Arena through 2016 and will help Las Vegas Events promote the event.

The conference, which brought the tournament to Las Vegas in 2009, has gained greater visibility and higher attendance since moving the event away from campus sites. The tournament has been a sellout for four straight years.

“We looked at every building in the West, including every building in Las Vegas,” commissioner Jamie Zaninovich said. “But after conversing with our membership, we feel it’s better to be too small and have a demand for tickets than to be too big.”

The WCC also is changing its tournament format. As a 10-team league next year after the addition of Pacific, the bottom four seeds will play on opening day Wednesday, take Thursday off, then the survivors will meet the top two seeds in the quarterfinals Friday, along with the 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5 games. Currently the top two seeds get a bye into the semifinals.

The tournament will retain the Sunday bye out of respect for Brigham Young’s religious obligations and continue with the Monday night championship game.

“We felt it was time,” Zaninovich said. “We want to find that sweet spot between competitive equity and catering to our fans.”

WCC WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT

■ Gonzaga 62, San Diego 50 — Haiden Palmer, the tourney Most Valuable Player, scored 18 points to lead the top-seeded Lady Bulldogs (27-5) to their fourth WCC title in five years and an automatic bid to the NCAA women’s tournament.

Taelor Karr added 14 points for Gonzaga, which forced 20 turnovers and limited second-seeded San Diego (21-9) to 38 percent shooting. The Toreros, who missed all five of their 3-point attempts, were led by Amy Kame’s 13 points.

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