LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Saint Mary's (28-5) played their signature tenacious defense and was as ferocious as ever on the glass tonight, but struggled to score, dropping the WCC Tournament Title Match to Gonzaga (25-8) 58-51. The Gaels fell into an early hole, and while they battled back fiercely they never could quite crest the hill to take a lead against the Bulldogs, who led for 39:09 of the 40 minute contest, and never trailed.
Saint Mary's found themselves in an early 20-7 hole, as Gonzaga, who trailed by double digits early in both regular season contests, got their turn to throw the opening haymaker. The Gaels battled back fervently, and turned a 10 point deficit of 31-21 with 3:11 to play to just a two point deficit at the break, using a 10-2 run over the final three and change at half. Mitchell Saxen was the Gaels most productive scorer in the first half, scoring 14 points on 5-9 shooting, while drawing four fouls, resulting in a 4-6 free throw shooting clip. Saxen was also solid defending down low, with two blocked shots. Augustas Marciulionis chipped in six first half points, with a team-high four assists and no turnovers, while Luke Barrett was limited to two points but ripped down eight rebounds, helping the Gaels to a +9 rebound margin at the half.
The Gaels would knot things up at 33 apiece on the opening possession of the second half when Marciulionis fed Saxen for a slam, but Gonzaga responded with a 5-0 run, and while Saint Mary's would three times cut the deficit to a single possession, including twice down to one point, they couldn't hit the big shot to give them a lead, as Gonzaga's defense was just as stellar as the Gaels tonight. The final score of the second half: 25-20, as Gonzaga finished tied with their fewest points in a half this season. Luke Barrett led the second half scoring for the Gaels with seven, while Mitchell Saxen and Augustas Marciulionis each added six, with the latter going for four more assists. The rebounding margin continued to grow for the Gaels in this one, as they were +6 on the Zags, but lost just their second game of the year when outrebounding an opponent.
Mitchell Saxen scored a season-high 20 points while also ripping down seven boards and rejecting a team-high two shots. Augustas Marciulionis joined him in double-figures with 12 points to go along with five rebounds and eight assists in another stat-sheet stuffing performance. Luke Barrett finished one point and one rebound shy of a double-double. The Gaels finished +15 on the glass, but -14 in the turnover battle, resulting in a 20-3 scoring discrepancy in points off of turnovers, largely telling the story of the game.
IN THEIR FINAL GAME VS GONZAGA…
Augustas Marciulionis, Luke Barrett and Mitchell Saxen all put up monumental efforts in the tightly contested game. Saxen led all scorers in the game with a season-high 20 points. It was the sixth time Saxen has met or eclipsed the 20 point mark for his Gael career. He also added seven rebounds and two blocks to his statline, as the most positive force for the Gaels tonight. Marciulionis joined Saxen in double digits with 12, while also ripping down five boards and eight assists. It was the first time this season and second time in his career that he has scored double figures and tallied at least five rebounds and five assists in back-to-back contests. Barrett also did a bit of everything for the Gaels tonight, with nine points, nine boards and three assists, serving as the Gaels third leading scorer, leading rebounder and second leading assist man tonight. While this trio may be done in conference action, they will still look to continue their strong play with the Gaels in March Madness.
TONIGHT'S POSITIVE: DEFENSE
Four times this season Gonzaga has been held under 70 points. Three of those four times were at the hands of the Gaels. Twice this season, Gonzaga has been held under 60 points. Including tonight, both of those belong to the Gaels. While the Zags are widely considered one of the best offensive teams in all of college basketball, the Gaels defense has given them fits and tonight was no exception. In tonight's championship bout, the Zags shot 41.3% from the field, their second lowest of the campaign, 6.7% from three, their lowest of the season, and had 13 assists, their second lowest tally of the year, with their lowest of 12 also coming against the Gaels in Spokane a few weeks ago. Unfortunately for the Gaels, however, the Zags matched the defensive intensity, and they were able to do just enough offensive to earn the conference tournament title.
POSTSEASON RECOGNITIONS
Augustas Marciulionis and Mitchell Saxen were both named to the WCC All-Tournament Team. Marciulionis averaged 13.5 points per game, six rebounds per game and 6.5 assists per contest, while holding an assist to turnover of 6.5. Saxen averaged 14.5 points per game, 7.5 rebounds per game and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 60% from the field. This was Mitchell Saxen's first all-tournament nod, and the second for Marciulions, who joins Mickey McConnell, Matthew Dellavedova, Jock Landale, Jordan Ford and Alex Ducas as the only multi-time WCC All-Tournament selections.
UP NEXT
The Gaels will wait for Selection Sunday to see when and where their next contest will be as well as who their next opponent will be. A Selection Sunday Watch Party will be hosted at UCU Pavilion (more information to follow).
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