Gonzaga advances to final

Austin Daye scored a career-high 28 points, Micah Downs made four three-point shots, and No. 14 Gonzaga rolled into another West Coast Conference tournament final, beating Santa Clara, 94-59, Sunday night.

Downs scored 18 points for the top-seeded Zags (25-5), whose 17-1 run late in the first half opened a 22-point lead that took the suspense out of their win. Gonzaga led by 40 points late, still shooting three-pointers and throwing down alley-oop dunks well after the game was decided.

Matt Bouldin added 11 points and seven assists for the Zags, who held WCC player of the year John Bryant to 13 points and 10 rebounds for Santa Clara (16-17).

Santa Clara couldn’t compete without big help from its star, who had 24 points and 27 rebounds in the Broncos’ quarterfinal win over San Diego. Bryant needed two rebounds in the final moments to have at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in 16 straight games.

Gonzaga will meet second-seeded St. Mary’s, which defeated Portland, 71-61, in Sunday’s late semifinal. The Gaels have star guard Patrick Mills back in their lineup five weeks after he broke his hand in a game at Gonzaga.