- Jim Root
When I applied for WCC credentials several weeks back, I knew I would only be able to make the semifinals and championship due to other travel. I couldn’t help but hope for specific matchups: a third swing at Gonzaga for San Francisco, who had given the dominant Bulldogs all kinds of trouble in the first two meetings, and BYU/Saint Mary’s III, the first two of which were decided by three (in OT) and two points. Lo and behold, the fates cooperated, and the resulting contests did not disappoint whatsoever.
Gonzaga 81, San Francisco 77
This one started alarmingly for the underdog Dons, as the Zags jumped out to a 21-9 lead early thanks to the brilliance of Killian Tillie. The French forward was everywhere through the first seven minutes of the game, impacting both ends of the floor with his passing and defense:
Look at Tillie point Kispert to the open cutting lane just before making the pass. Brilliant
The Dons weren’t going anywhere, though, as Jimbo Lull and Charles Minlend got inside for several baskets to keep things competitive. San Francisco also tightened up defensively after the early Gonzaga onslaught.
Lull eventually got himself into foul trouble, though, and with Taavi Jurkatamm already saddled with two fouls himself, Coach Todd Golden had to dig even deeper into his bench. Lull had been a real offensive weapon, forcing Filip Petrusev to grind on the defensive end, and the Dons had to find other ways to manufacture points. Charles Minlend was able to get to the basket a few times, and Remu Raitanen canned three first half triples to keep the Dons in striking distance.
The second half opened with Lull quickly picking up his fourth foul, casting serious doubt on whether San Francisco could maintain its competitiveness against the often-overwhelming Zags. After all, the Bulldogs had won the second half in Spokane by a staggering 26 points – something similar certainly felt plausible.
But the seemingly-inevitable Gonzaga surge never materialized, with Minlend, Jamaree Bouyea, and Khalil Shabazz frequently getting to the rim and the Dons’ defense largely taking away the three-point line from an offense that wants to spread you out.
Mark Few tried a few tricks to jolt his squad. Out of the under-12 timeout, he finally rolled out his four-guard lineup, a group that has changed games in the past with its skill and spacing. San Francisco countered with more drives to the bucket, and after three minutes and no progress gained on the scoreboard, Few returned to a more conventional lineup. At the under-8, Few again threw a curveball, switching to a 1-3-1 zone in hopes of limiting the Dons’ penetration. That didn’t work, either, as Jordan Ratinho finally got loose for a three, and it became crystal clear that this was going to come down to the final stretch.
Tillie once again did his part, craftily evading Bouyea for this enormous triple:
And his French counterpart, Joel Ayayi (lovingly known at 3MW as Ayayayayayayi), took over in the final four-plus minutes, scoring off a floater, a pull-up jumper, a pair of free throws, and a driving reverse lay-up to continually keep the Dons just out of reach. Shabazz had a shot over Tillie to tie it in the final minute, but he couldn’t bury it, and the Zags held on via Tillie free throws.
Coach Few raved about the Dons in the postgame press conference: “They’re experienced, they’re hungry, and we get their best shot. They have a lot of good players.” Tillie echoed him: “It was a great game. San Francisco is a great team, they have great players, and they play hard. Every time they play us, they play super hard.” The Dons, meanwhile, will anxiously await the NIT draw, with Coach Golden pointedly referring to that tournament as where he expects his team to next find itself on the court.
The Zags needed only to wait and see who their opponent would be…
Saint Mary’s 51, BYU 50
This one was significantly uglier than the night’s first contest, with both coaching staffs stressing how physical the game was and how it made for extremely grueling offensive possessions as cutters were knocked off their paths and potential post ups were shoved out well beyond the paint. That did not stop Yoeli Childs early, though, as the big senior still managed to corkscrew his way to a few creative buckets in the paint early on:
That eventually helped to stake the Cougars to a 19-12 advantage. At that point (late in the first half), Coach Randy Bennett opted to give his star senior guard a rest. Jordan Ford went to the bench with 5:33 remaining, and the offense actually seemed to wake up a bit. Asked about that decision, Bennett thought his team needed to find itself without Ford: “We actually started getting going a little bit offensively. I think we were so preoccupied with getting (Ford) the ball, and we weren’t playing well offensively…sometimes it helps us just to get other guys involved and get them moving the ball and looking to score.”
The second half went much the way the first half did, although BYU looked like it might pull away early, extending its advantage all the way out to 11 to start the second stanza. The Gaels answered by scoring on six of seven possessions, though, and their defense eventually took over.
At one point in the second half, the Cougars were a dismal 1-for-11 from inside the arc, as Saint Mary’s repeatedly forced them into difficult midrange jumpers (a big reason TJ Haws went 2-of-14 from the field) and tough finishes inside. Bennett found a decent answer to the Childs question with freshman Kyle Bowen, who swatted the BYU star once and challenged him on a few other post up opportunities, and BYU had zero field goals from the 12:44 mark all the way until there was 3:31 left.
At that point, Zac Seljaas made what seemed destined to be the play of the night. He wrestled away an offensive rebound from the Gaels and finished through contact for a monstrous hoop-and-harm, retaking the lead the Cougars had just temporarily surrendered. They held that lead until the final seven seconds, when Jordan Ford did what Jordan Ford does:
Ford was comfortable with a one-on-one situation there: “I liked the matchup. (Barcello) is a little smaller defender, so I’m able to get the shot off over him. I knew I was going to be able to get a clean look.” Rather than force something into the paint, he wanted to pull up on a dime, and few in college basketball do it better than Ford.
That result left BYU asking a lot of internal questions about its toughness and ability to handle the physical nature of postseason play, and the dejected Cougars now return to Provo with 10 days to prepare for their first NCAA Tournament game (has to be on Thursday).
Saint Mary’s, meanwhile, will be back at the Orleans tomorrow night for another date with the Zags, and I will happily join both squads for what should be a tremendous finale to the WCC Tournament.