All too familiar: Gonzaga wins 33rd straight game against San Francisco, advances to WCC title game

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Mar. 11—LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The first 20 minutes played out in typical Gonzaga-San Francisco fashion.

Even when the Dons tried to toss a wrench into things, the Zags made sure the script didn’t change in the final 20.

It was neck-and-neck between the West Coast Conference’s second- and third-seeded teams for the first half of a semifinal meeting at Orleans Arena — probably not a surprise to anyone well-versed in the recent history between Gonzaga and USF.

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In the last six meetings, there have been three instances where one of the two teams led by a single point at halftime. Another game was deadlocked at the break and the only real first-half separation either created in matchups over the last two years came eight days ago at the Chase Center, when GU racked up a 15-point lead at the halftime intermission.

Gonzaga was on the wrong side of the halftime tally this time, but for the 33rd straifht time against San Francisco, the Bulldogs were the right side of the final score, riding monster second halves from Graham Ike and Khalif Battle to an 85-76 victory at Orleans Arena.

The next part of the script arrives Tuesday when Gonzaga plays in its 28th consecutive title game, facing a team its encountered on the final day of the WCC Tournament 12 times since the annual event moved to Las Vegas. Two teams with at-large NCAA Tournament bids all but locked up, Gonzaga (24-8) and Saint Mary’s (28-4) tip off at 6 p.m. (ESPN).

But first, more on the other streak Gonzaga extended on Monday by winning for a 33rd straight time against USF — a program that made the NCAA Tournament three years ago and has regularly hovered near the top of the WCC standings under coach Chris Gerlufsen and predecessors Todd Golden (Florida) and Kyle Smith (Stanford).

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“It’s nuts, man,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “That’s an NCAA Tournament-caliber team there. They have great size, they’ve got incredible guard play. (Ryan) Beasley’s just been heroic these last two nights coming back…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/too-familiar-gonzaga-wins-33rd-150700011.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2025-03-11 15:07:00

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