Gonzaga pummels BYU, 74-54, to win sixth straight WCC tournament title

Fans of bubble teams across America can exhale. At least for now.

BYU’s attempt to become a dreaded March “bid-stealer” ended with a 74-54 loss to Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference tournament championship game Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

The third-seeded Cougars upset Saint Mary’s in the semifinals on Monday, and were looking to pull a similar feat against the league’s ultimate power. Instead, Gonzaga held its opponent to 34.4 percent shooting from the field and won by the largest margin of victory in a WCC final since 2009.

Sophomore forward Killian Tillie led the offensive effort for the Zags, scoring a game-high 22 points on 9 of 13 shooting from the field. Zach Norvell Jr. added 17 points, while Johnathan Williams chipped in 10 points and 13 rebounds.

BYU played right with Gonzaga for the bulk of the first half. The game was tied at 27 with just under three minutes to go before the Bulldogs seized control by ending the half on an 11-2 run. Gonzaga then scored the first 11 points of the second to put any hope of a Cougar comeback to bed early.

WCC tournament domination is nothing new for Gonzaga, which won its three games in Vegas by a combined 62 points. The Zags have now won six consecutive West Coast Conference tournament championships, and 16 WCC tourney titles since 1998.

Mark Few’s team now turns its attention to the NCAA tournament, where it played its way all the way to the national title game a year ago. Gonzaga is a No. 4 seed in Chris Dobbertean’s most recent bracket projection.