SPOKANE, Wash. — Saturday night was the long-awaited regular season finale between No. 15 Saint Mary's and No. 12 Gonzaga. It featured ESPN's College GameDay crew, it drew their primetime slot on ESPN, and the entire nation tuned in to see if the Gaels could win their first outright regular season title in 11 years. Gonzaga had other plans, using a strong surge late in the first half and rode that momentum all the way to a 77-68 win over SMC. Saint Mary's finishes the regular season 25-6 (14-2) and shares the regular season title with Gonzaga.
 
TALKIN' TURNOVERS
Saint Mary's has been one of the best teams in the country in holding onto the basketball, ranking inside the top-25 in the country in terms of fewest turnovers per game. It became a talking point in the first half, with the Gaels turning it over eight times compared to just one for Gonzaga. That resulted in a huge gap in points off of turnover, where the Gaels had just one in the first half, but the Zags had 16. Per game, the Gaels turn it over less than 11 times per game, so the large number of turnovers in the first half was a surprise.
 
THE PUNCH
The Gaels did a good job of keeping the game within reach for a good portion of the first half, but it got away from them late in the half. Gonzaga turn what was a 22-19 lead into a 39-20 advantage thanks to a 17-1 run over just five minutes. The lone point for SMC during that run came from Logan Johnson at the free throw line, but it came to an end as the half wound down thanks to a trip to the line from Augustas Marciulionis and a corner three from Alex Ducas, his first make of the night. Thanks to a solid finish to the half, the Gaels were able to enter the break trailing by 13 as opposed to 19.
 
ADJUSTMENTS
Despite going into the break staring at a large deficit, the Gaels came out and made some good adjustments to knock down shots. Their numbers across the board were better in the second half, highlighted by their 50% shooting from the floor and 16 free throws attempted. A 14-2 Saint Mary's run over three minutes pulled them within six points with just under 12 minutes remaining in the game, the closest it had been since midway through the first half. Gonzaga countered with a 6-0 run to move it back up to a 12-point game, and the rest of the way it stayed between five and 12 points. Still, the Gaels finished the second half out-scoring Gonzaga 42-38.
 
STILL ON A HEATER
It's been three weeks, and Logan Johnson is still playing otherworldly basketball. He was the main source of offense for the Gaels on Saturday night in Spokane, leading the way with 27 points. Saint Mary's scored just 26 points in the first half and Johnson provided 15 of those. Over his last six games, Johnson has scored at least 15 points in a half four times. His night was efficient, going 7-12 from the field, a perfect 2-2 from beyond the arc, and 11-15 from the free throw line. Over the final six games of the season, Johnson averaged 25.2 points per game.
 
AMONG OTHER NUMBERS
With the two teams splitting the title, this is the first time since 2015-16 that the conference will have a shared champion…the last 23 regular season champions of the WCC have been either Saint Mary's, Gonzaga, or both teams…Saint Mary's caught up late in points in the paint, but still lost the battle there 42-28…Alex Ducas was the only other Gael in double-digits with 10 points, while Aidan Mahaney scored nine and Joshua Jefferson scored a career-best nine points on a career-high 23 minutes…the Gaels defense was great on a couple of important players for Gonzaga: they held Julian Strawther to just 2-10 from the floor, and kept Rasir Bolton to only three points.
 
UP NEXT
With the regular season over, Saint Mary's and Gonzaga will now wait to see where the NCAA NET Rankings are at, determining who gets the top seed at the University Credit Union West Coast Conference Tournament. If the Gaels stay ahead of Gonzaga in that metric, then the Gaels will be the top seed in the tournament for the first time since the 2016 installment of the tournament. Regardless of seeding, the Gaels will be playing on Monday, March 6, with an automatic spot in the semifinals. If the Gaels are the one seed, they would be in line to potentially play the fourth seed. If they are the two seed, their most likely matchup would be against the three seed.