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No. 1 Gonzaga recorded one of his worst performances of the season and his rival, Saint Mary's, won one of the most surprising results of the week at the NCAA tournament. , winning the West Coast Conference tournament final. 60-47 Tuesday night in Las Vegas.
The Gaels have totally controlled the pace from the start and have done a fantastic job in limiting Gonzaga's fast paced opportunities. A good defense, many lucky rebounds and good performances from Jordan Hunter and Jordan Ford have propelled Saint Mary's over, but the responsibility of the country's best team is blamed.
Even with this defeat, Gonzaga could still rank first in the Western Region in Sunday's selection. The Zags are 30-3 with a victory over the full duel on neutral ground and have probably managed to secure the best seed line before Tuesday's disappointment.
But if the meager performances of Gonzaga in the final rank among the best thanks to their first place, what not to lose is the fantastic game plan and performance of Saint Mary's. Gonzaga has an average of nearly 90 points per game and Saint Mary's closed the country's most effective offensive with an incredible display of discipline and commitment to the pace of the match and a comeback. defense.
A defeat, even in a brave effort, would probably not be enough to secure the Gaels' place at the NCAA tournament and this resulted in an urgency that did not appear in Gonzaga's performance. By the time the reality of worry had set in, the confidence that Saint Mary's had gained in leading most of the game had supported them in the final minutes.
"I'm just proud of the hardness of their game, you have to believe against these guys," said Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett on ESPN after the game. "We caught them on a night off, but they're so good, we managed to keep them out of the transition and take care of the ball, they're tough, they're resilient, we were 3-4 to start. And many people did not think we were good.These guys continued to hang out, to stay together, did not come down. "
Bennett closed his camera interview by saying it was "a bit of them, a lot of us", which contributed to this surprising result. Gonzaga shot 37.5 percent of the field, and Bennett knew that spending a night without shooting was the perfect complement to his game plan.
If there is one real concern for Gonzaga, it is that Saint Mary's may have developed a slow-paced action plan to reverse the offensive juggernaut. Mark Few is one of the best coaches in the country and he is sure he will address the issue in practice by the NCAA tournament, but there is no doubt that this performance is not what the fans Gonzaga wanted to see at a time when you would like to see a candidate in the championship playing his best basketball.
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