No. 1 Gonzaga outlasts No. 17 Saint Mary's, wins WCC tourney

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Chet Holmgren spent most of his night frustrated as he got banged around and shots clanged away. Drew Timme, except for a spurt early in the second half, found little room to pull off his variety of drop steps and up-and-unders.

Gonzaga still found a way to pick apart one of the nation's toughest defenses and win another West Coast Conference title.

These Zags are deep, dangerous and may be poised for another extended March run.

Andrew Nembhard scored 19 points, Rasir Bolton added 18 and top-ranked Gonzaga outlasted No. 17 Saint Mary's 82-69 Tuesday night to win its eighth WCC tournament title in nine years.

"Their offense is as good as any in the country," Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett said. "There's a lot of things you have to do right to have a chance and we did that for a while, but you have to do it for 40 minutes."

Gonzaga (26-3) spent a good portion of its 25th straight WCC title game trying to shake the gritty Gaels. The Zags had a hard time getting out in transition, had to work through multiple options to get decent looks and found passing lanes clogged with Gaels.

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Gonzaga's Drew Timme (2) celebrates after cutting a piece of the net after Gonzaga defeated Saint Mary's in an NCAA college basketball championship game at the West Coast Conference tournament Tuesday, March 8, 2022, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

None of it slowed them down.

Gonzaga shot 58% and hit nine straight shots during a stretch in the second half to pull away after Saint Mary's had cut the lead to two. Nembhard and Bolton led the way, combining for 17 straight points to all but lock up a No. 1 seed in