Morrison, Gonzaga Are Rolling

Adam Morrison isn’t comfortable talking about himself, but his play at the West Coast Conference tournament spoke loudly for a Gonzaga team that is in postseason mode.

Morrison scored a career-high 30 points to lead Gonzaga to an 80-67 victory over St. Mary’s on Monday night and clinch an NCAA tournament berth before 4,500 at the Leavey Center.

Morrison, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, led a second-half charge one day after scoring 25 points in the semifinals against San Diego. But he saved his best for the final.

“Adam is a big-time player,” Gonzaga Coach Mark Few said. “The bigger the moment, usually the better he is. But the reason we’ve run off how many straight we have is that he’s defending and he’s rebounding and making extra passes.

“He’s making everybody around him better at both ends.”

Gonzaga (25-4) withstood an early test by second-seeded St. Mary’s to win its 12th consecutive game.

The top-seeded Bulldogs were making their eighth consecutive appearance in the WCC title game and winning their sixth championship in seven years.

Few wouldn’t speculate, but the Bulldogs figure to be seeded fourth or above when the NCAA tournament bracket is announced Sunday. And there was talk before the season that Gonzaga would take a step back.

“We heard the whispers,” Morrison said. “It kind of puts a chip on your shoulder. Just because we’re young doesn’t mean we can’t play ball.”

Morrison scored nine points early in the second half Monday to help Gonzaga take charge. He finished making 12 of 21 shots with five rebounds and three assists.

St. Mary’s Coach Randy Bennett said Morrison was a more complete player from earlier in the season.

“He struggled a little in the middle of league but in the last five or six games, he’s really turned it on,” said Bennett, whose team is 25-8 and hopes for an at-large bid to the tournament. “He’s scoring better, he’s shooting it better. He’s not playing as selfish as he was before and he’s scoring more.”