Saint Mary's Upsets No. 9 Gonzaga
Saint Mary's defeated ninth-ranked Gonzaga 70-59 to earn a share of the WCC regular season title. The Gaels held Gonzaga to one of its lowest scoring outputs of the season with strong defense and a decisive late second-half run.
The victory for Saint Mary's marked their 26th consecutive win at home and was fueled by a remarkable second-half turnaround. After trailing by seven at halftime, the Gaels' defense held Gonzaga to just 23 second-half points, the first time any team has held the Bulldogs under 60 points all season. Sophomore guard Mikey Lewis had a career-high 31 points, including seven three-pointers, to lead the Gaels. He was joined by Joshua Dent with 14 points and Mantas Juzenas with 12, who both hit crucial three-pointers. For Gonzaga, leading scorer Graham Ike was held to 17 points before fouling out with four minutes remaining in the game. This win secured a share of the West Coast Conference regular-season title for Saint Mary's for the fourth straight year, a first in the program's history. The Gaels and Bulldogs have now combined to win or share the WCC title for the last 27 consecutive seasons. The game, played in Moraga, California, was the final regular-season matchup between the two schools as long-time WCC rivals. Gonzaga is set to join the Pac-12 conference next season. With the regular season concluded, Gonzaga (28-3, 16-2 WCC) enters the WCC tournament as the No. 1 seed. Saint Mary's (27-4, 16-2 WCC) will be the No. 2 seed, with both teams earning byes into the semifinals on March 9.
