Gonzaga Triumphs Again in WCC Over Saint Mary's in Final

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00:0017 consecutive years, either the Zags or the Gales, atop the pinnacle of the WCC.

00:07And last night, although St. Mary's had won each of the two regular season matchup against Mark Fuse Bulldogs,

00:15it was Gonzaga, booked as a favorite to win the tournament crown,

00:19it was Gonzaga that delivered on that expectation.

00:22The Zags victorious, 58-51, covering as a three-and-a-half point favorite,

00:28in a much lower-scoring game than you might expect if Gonzaga were to come out with the dub.

00:34St. Mary's known for their slow pace and elite defense.

00:38It is a staple of Randy Bennett basketball up there in Moraga,

00:42but Gonzaga comes out on top, total under 138-and-a-half.

00:46The Zags claim their fifth WCC tournament championship in the last six seasons.

00:53St. Mary's won 17-1 in conference play in the regular season.

00:57St. Mary's beat the Gonzaga Bulldogs twice in the regular season.

01:01They lined up in this game, slight favorites here to Gonzaga, at minus three-and-a-half.

01:05So if I tell you I got that crystal ball out, Ben, and I just told you those statistics here and what that line was,

01:11then I told you Gonzaga's gonna make one three-point shot in that game and only five free throws from the free throw line.

01:18You'd say, boy, St. Mary's, what's that, 70-30?

01:21They won that game by 40 points and just blistered Gonzaga again?

01:24Didn't happen.

01:25And so many times you talk about in football, win the turnover battle.

01:28How about 18 turnovers for St. Mary's, which is ungodly for them, to only four for the Gonzaga Bulldogs?

01:33That's how you make up 14 extra possessions in your back pocket that you can use to your advantage.

01:38But it's still incredible to see where so efficient are both of these offenses, so inefficient last night, which, again, included St. Mary's.

01:45They don't want to blister you from the three-point line, but they can shoot it decently 0-for-16 from the three-point line.

01:51When all the chips are on the table, which is kind of crazy, where it's like, okay, neutral court, we're both going to the dance,

01:56and you didn't get that free-flowing atmosphere, which, again, you weren't going to get up and down because St. Mary's won't allow that.

02:01But 58-51 with terrible shooting, and that's the way the game plays out, and Gonzaga still won that game.

02:07That was incredible to see.

02:08Now, the one thing is I knew I liked Gonzaga.

02:11I didn't watch that game because I was fast asleep.

02:13But congratulations to the people that watched that basketball game all the way through with that type of efficiency.

02:18It was a terrible watch.

02:19It was a rock fight, but, hey, it's got to be a winner and a loser, and Gonzaga was the winner.