Gonzaga defeats BYU 74-54 in WCC Tournament Championship

There wasn’t any doubt, but now it’s official: The Gonzaga Bulldogs are heading back to the NCAA Tournament for the 20th consecutive season.

Killian Tillie (22 points) continued his hot streak in Vegas and helped power the top-seeded Zags past the 3 seed BYU Cougars. It was a close game for much of the first half, but an 11-2 run over the final 2:30, followed by an explosion out of the gate to start the second half, proved far too much for BYU to overcome.

Yoeli Childs led the way for the Cougars with 20 points, 18 of which came in the first half. But while being defended by Rui Hachimura, who acted as his primary defender for much of the first half, Childs was held scoreless.

Gonzaga opened the second half on a 25-2 over the first 9:15. By the time BYU started getting some shots to fall midway through the second half the game was too far gone.

“That’s probably as good a run as I’ve ever been a part of in the 28 years I’ve been at Gonzaga,” head coach Mark Few said. “Just fantastic defense that led to great offense.”

With the win Gonzaga will be making its 21st overall trip to the NCAA Tournament. It’s Gonzaga’s 17th WCC Tournament Title, sixth straight and 16th in the past 20 seasons.

Killian Tillie and Johnathan Williams (10 points, 13 rebounds) were named to the WCC’s all-Tournament team along with BYU’s Yoeli Childs, LMU’s James Batemon and Saint Mary’s Jock Landale.

Tillie, who was left off the 10-man all-WCC first team, was named the tournament MVP. He went 28 of 36 from the field over three games at Orleans Arena and hit 13 of 14 from behind the arc.

The No. 6 ranked Bulldogs were led by an all-WCC second teamer despite having three players named to the all-WCC first team. Gonzaga is an exceptionally deep team once again this season. Entering the NCAA Tournament Gonzaga will boast a 30-4 record and a Top-10 ranking, though bracketologists are by and large projecting Gonzaga to fall on the 4 or 5 seed line. Looking at what they’ve accomplished, and the depth and talent they possess, it’s a certainty that the Zags will be underseeded on Selection Sunday.