Coach Few Calls Zags’ 13th Trip to NCAA Tournament ‘Sweetest One of Them All’
LAS VEGAS " With 15 points from Steven Gray, 12 from Robert Sacre and 11 from Marquise Carter, the Gonzaga University Bulldogs fought through multiple lead changes en route to a 75-63 victory over top-seed Saint Mary’s Monday to capture the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament crown. In so doing, the Zags earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament for the 13th consecutive season.
(Media-Newswire.com) - LAS VEGAS – With 15 points from Steven Gray, 12 from Robert Sacre and 11 from Marquise Carter, the Gonzaga University Bulldogs fought through multiple lead changes en route to a 75-63 victory over top-seed Saint Mary’s Monday to capture the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament crown. In so doing, the Zags earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament for the 13th consecutive season. Carter and Gray were named to the All-Tournament Team and Carter earned Tournament MVP honors.
Coach Mark Few called this 13th journey into the Big Dance the sweetest, given how hard the Bulldogs had to battle through adversity and from third place in the WCC on Feb. 11 to rise up and tie for the WCC regular season title and on Monday night capture the Tournament crown.
Carter, a junior transfer from Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Mo., said playing in the NCAA Tournament is the realization of a lifelong dream.
Carter, All-WCC First Team and the league’s Top Newcomer this year, said it has been a process for him transitioning from junior college where he played a lot and was a star to Gonzaga where he has had to work for every minute of playing time and adapt to a complicated playbook.
“Not being able to play as much, it was frustrating, but I had teammates, I had coaches and I had a supporting cast like my bigger brother and like my dad,” he said. “Everybody telling me positive things, telling me things will come to me if I keep working hard. And believe it or not, I kept working hard and getting in the gym and just working out and trying to get better and just everything fell into place for me.”
The most important advice he heard was from his brother: to remain coachable, Carter said.
“That’s what I did and everything started falling into place for me,” he said.
After WCC Player of the Year Mickey McConnell struck first with a lay-up, the Zags answered with a 3-pointer and a 2-point jumper by Gray and a layup by Demetri Goodson to take a 7-2 lead before the Gaels answered and tied the score at 15 with 12:51 left in the first period on a tip-in by Rob Jones. Saint Mary’s held the lead until sophomore Elias Harris drained a 3-pointer to tie the score at 24 with 8:19 left. The Gaels tied the game three times before Sacre sank a free throw with 1:24 left to give the Zags a 35-34 edge that Carter extended to 39-34 with a lay-in and a jumpshot to give Gonzaga the halftime lead.
Saint Mary’s took a 46-45 lead at 13:27 left in the second period with two free throws by Matthew Dellavedova and the teams traded leads three times before Dellavedova tied the game at 51 with a 3-pointer at 10:41 left. The teams swapped the lead three more times and tied it up twice before freshman center Sam Dower’s lay-in with 8:35 left gave Gonzaga a 55-53 lead, an edge the Zags never relinquished. The Gaels fought back to within 3 on a 3-pointer by Clint Steindl at 4:03 left to bring the score to 61-58. But the Zags’ relentless offense increased their advantage and Sacre sank two free throws to put Gonzaga up by 9 ( 71-62 ) with 1:06 left. Sacre and Gray drained 2 more free throws apiece to end all scoring.
The players’ postgame celebration was particularly exuberant as the Bulldogs charged the stands to greet Gonzaga’s fans.
“I think there has been a lot of pent-up stuff with these guys that they were able to unleash tonight and let out afterwards,” Few said. “That’s what I told them before, ‘we’re 40 minutes way from, think of all the stuff we’ve had to go through.’ Our goal was to win the league championship and get to the NCAA Tournament and they did it, they did it. Never give up on them. It’s a good lesson.”
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