Zags roll to WCC title

Gonzaga has become so accustomed to winning the West Coast Conference tournament, its students don't even bother to storm the floor anymore.

Perhaps it's become passé for them. Or maybe they were too tired from having celebrated from late in the first half to the final buzzer of the top-seeded Bulldogs' impressive 83-58 rout of second-seeded Saint Mary's Monday in front of a sellout crowd of 7,845 at the Orleans Arena.

For the ninth time in 11 years, the Zags (26-5) cut down the nets in earning the WCC's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. They did in big-time style, holding the Gaels (25-6) to just 29 percent shooting from the floor while putting six of their own players in double figures, led by senior center Josh Heytvelt's 17 points.

And if the NCAA men's selection committee was watching on ESPN, they might have a tough call on their hands later this week when they convene in Indianapolis to put together and seed the 65-team field.

Not whether to include Saint Mary's, but where to place Gonzaga. Are they are No. 5 seed? A No. 4? Maybe even a three?

Coach Mark Few wouldn't speculate. All he knows is his team has played some of its best basketball of the season in the past 48 hours and that should count for something on Selection Sunday.

"I'm not into politicking, but I can't see many teams playing better down the stretch than we are," Few said. "We played great this weekend and if we play like that in the NCAA Tournament, we can go a long, long, long way.

"Will we? I hope so. We'll just keep on eating our Cheerios and do what we've been doing."

The Gaels never got untracked offensively. Patrick Mills, in particular, struggled as the Saint Mary's star guard shot just 2 of 16 from the floor and was 0 for 7 from beyond the 3-point arc.

"In a game like this, you have to play well and we didn't," Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett said. "It wasn't just Pat. It was all of us."

Saint Mary's found itself on its heels before the opening tip as it was assessed a technical foul after the officials caught a player dunking in the warmups.

The Gaels were quickly down 8-0 just 1:36 into the contest. Then they fell behind 13-3, then 32-22 and were trailing 38-25 at the half as Gonzaga went on an 11-3 spurt over the final 3:03.

It didn't take long for the Zags to extend their lead in the second half. In four-plus minutes, the lead was 18 and midway through the half, it was 63-41.

The celebration was on.

"I think we're peaking at the right time," said Matt Bouldin, who along with Gonzaga teammates Jeremy Pargo and Micah Downs, Santa Clara's John Bryant and Saint Mary's Diamon Simpson were named to the WCC All-Tournament Team.

"I think the momentum has been building the last few weeks and our greatest strength is our balance. We have so many weapons offensively and we're also working together on defense with a lot of people making plays."

Downs, the tourney's MVP who played his freshman year of high school ball at Green Valley High school, said winning never gets old.

"To go 16-0 in conference play and beat our rival, it feels really good to come out and prove to people we are the best team in our conference," Downs said.

In the women's championship game, top-seeded Gonzaga placed five players in double figures, led by Heather Bowman's 16 points, and defeated sixth-seeded San Diego, 66-55, to earn the WCC's automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Tournament.