Saint Mary's Gaels vs Gonzaga Bulldogs Box Score on Mar 08, 2021

Drew Timme had game-high totals of 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists to lead a balanced attack as top-ranked Gonzaga defeated Saint Mary's 78-55 Monday night in the West Coast Conference semifinals at Las Vegas.

Joel Ayayi added 16 points and eight rebounds, Jalen Suggs contributed 15 points and seven rebounds, Corey Kispert had 14 points and six rebounds and Andrew Nembhard had 10 points for the Bulldogs, who tied a program record with their 29th consecutive victory.

The top-seeded Bulldogs (25-0) will play for their eighth WCC tournament championship in the past nine years on Tuesday night, facing second-seeded BYU. The Cougars (20-5) topped third-seeded Pepperdine 82-77 in overtime in the late semifinal.

Gonzaga will be participating in its 24th consecutive WCC title game.

With a victory Tuesday, the Bulldogs would become just the fifth team to enter the NCAA Tournament undefeated since Indiana completed the last perfect championship season in 1975-76.

Logan Johnson scored 15 points for the fourth-seeded Gaels (14-10) and Tommy Kuhse added 13.

Gonzaga had eight days off entering Monday's game, but the Bulldogs hardly looked rusty, as they took control early and finished with 53.2 percent shooting from the field (33 of 62).

After Matthias Tass scored on the Gaels' opening possession, the Bulldogs put together an 11-0 run over the next 4:08, capped by Ayayi's 3-pointer.

Kyle Bowen's 3-pointer pulled Saint Mary's within 19-13 with 11:55 left in the half, but that was as close as the Gaels would get the rest of the way.

The Bulldogs extended their lead to 44-26 by the half, with Timme scoring 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting. Gonzaga shot 18 of 28 (64.3 percent) before intermission.

The Gaels scored five of the first seven points in the second half to pull within 46-31 on Johnson's three-point play, but Suggs scored off an offensive rebound, made a 3-pointer and added a jumper over the next 1:46, and the Bulldogs coasted from there.

--Field Level Media