Gonzaga Bulldogs vs Saint Mary's Gaels Match Player Stats On Mar 02, 2019

A dominant second half Saturday night enabled No. 1 Gonzaga to become the first team in 28 seasons to win all of its conference games by double digits as it rolled past host Saint Mary's 69-55 in Moraga, Calif.

The Zags finished West Coast Conference play at 16-0.

Josh Perkins tallied 19 points and Rui Hachimura scored 17 for the 29-2 Bulldogs, who will be the top seed for the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas. Brandon Clarke added 15 points as Gonzaga hit 52.8 percent of its field goal tries and generated 19 points off 13 Gaels turnovers.

Guard Jordan Ford scored 19 points to lead Saint Mary's (20-11, 11-5), whose longshot hopes for an at-large NCAA Tournament bid were likely erased by the defeat. The Gaels are the second seed for the conference tourney, but will likely need to win it, which means likely having to go through the Zags in the championship game.

Saint Mary's, which was pummeled 94-46 in its first meeting with Gonzaga on Feb. 9 in Spokane, made a game of it for nearly 30 minutes by slowing the tempo and hitting 46.4 percent of its shots in the first half. In fact, the Gaels led 23-19 with 7:15 left in the first after Matthias Tass converted a stickback.

Ford sank a 3-pointer with 24 seconds remaining to forge a 34-34 tie, but the Zags stole momentum and the lead at halftime when freshman Filip Petrusev canned a jumper in the lane as time expired.

It was all Gonzaga, all the time in the second half, particularly after Tanner Krebs scored in transition with 12:07 remaining to pull Saint Mary's within 47-44. The Zags rattled off 17 straight points, holding the Gaels without a point for nearly eight minutes.

Hachimura's free throws at the 5:49 mark polished off the run and gave Gonzaga a 20-point lead. The game's remainder was a race to the final horn.

It was the fifth time the Zags posted a perfect WCC record and their first since the 2012-13 season.

--Field Level Media