College Basketball: Gonzaga wins WCC bid to NCAA
Saint Mary’s forward Calvin Hermanson, right, fouls Gonzaga guard Eric McClellan, center, during the first half of the West Coast Conference men’s tournament championship game on Tuesday.
Eric McClellan scored 20 points, Kyle Wiltjer added 17 and Gonzaga took the guesswork out of its 18th straight NCAA tournament appearance by beating St. Mary’s, 85-75, Tuesday night in the West Coast Conference championship game at Las Vegas.
Despite sharing the WCC regular-season crown, Gonzaga (26-7) was not a lock to make the NCAA tournament, but the Bulldogs took the suspense out of it by shooting 61%.
St. Mary’s (27-5) tried to keep up with the Bulldogs’ shooting, making 12 of 25 from three-point range, but the Gaels will have to hope their resume is good enough for an NCAA at-large berth.
Green Bay 78, Wright State 69: Jordan Fouse scored 16 points, and Green Bay wrapped up a spot in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1996 by winning the Horizon League title game at Detroit.
Charles Cooper added 15 points for the Phoenix (23-12), who jumped out to a double-digit lead and never let the Raiders (22-13) control the pace.
Fairleigh Dickinson 87, Wagner 79: Darian Anderson scored 28 points and Earl Potts Jr. had 27 in the championship game of the Northeast Conference tournament as the Knights (18-14) pulled off the upset and earned their first NCAA tournament bid since 2005.
Corey Henson led the top-seeded Seahawks (23-9) with 24 points, while Michael Carey had 18 points and 11 rebounds.
South Dakota State 67, North Dakota State 59: Mike Daum had 18 points and nine rebounds and the Jackrabbits (26-7) held off a late surge to win the Summit League championship at Sioux Falls, S.D., reaching the NCAA tournament for the third time in five years.
Women
San Francisco 70, Brigham Young 68: Taylor Proctor scored 27 points, Zhane Dikes added 21 and the sixth-seeded Dons (21-11) earned their first trip to the NCAA tournament in 19 years with the West Coast Conference championship.
UC Santa Barbara 62, UC Irvine 43: Je Zhe Newton had 16 points and 10 rebounds and the Gauchos (12-19) pulled away in the fourth quarter of the first-round Big West tournament game at UC Irvine. Fifth-seeded Santa Barbara will face UC Davis in the quarterfinals.
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