BYU to face 2nd top-25 team in 24 hours, No. 6 Gonzaga in WCC championship


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LAS VEGAS — The BYU men’s basketball team pulled off a stunning upset of 20th-ranked Saint Mary’s, 85-72 in Monday’s semifinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament.

And for it, they get the reward of facing the No. 6 team in the country at 7 p.m. MST in Las Vegas.

Killian Tillie poured in 26 points to lead four players in double figures as Gonzaga pulled away from San Francisco, 88-60 in the first semifinal at Orleans Arena.

“It’s a really good win for us, for our team, for our players. And as a reward we get to play Gonzaga,” BYU coach Dave Rose said. “But we played them a couple of weeks ago, and they had their way with us, so we look forward to getting ready for tomorrow.”

The Cougars wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I think every single person on our team wouldn’t want to play anybody else,” Childs said. “They are a great team — but I think we are ready. We believe in each other.”

Tillie, who made his first eight shots from the field before finishing 10-of-11 with five 3-pointers, paced a net-scorching offensive attack that shot 63 percent from the field until the final moments of the game.

Rui Hachimura added 17 points and teammate Mike Norvell Jr. scored 14 for the Bulldogs (29-4), who advanced to the tournament final for the 21st-straight year.

Williams threw down a monstrous dunk to start a 16-3 run that put the Zags up 39-22 with 6:35 to go until halftime, and the Bulldogs cruised from there.

Nate Renfro led San Francisco (18-15) with 15 points and six rebounds.

BYU in the WCC Tournament

House flavor

Among the notable fans at Orleans Arena were broadcasters, reporters and basketball fans from around the country, likely anticipating another WCC rivalry matchup between two teams in the top 20 in Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s.

At least one notable fan was rooting for BYU, though.

Rapper and reality TV star Flavor Flav had prime tickets to the affair, and he held up his royal blue Roar of Cougars-inspired t-shirt with pride — at least, according to the Twitter account of the BYU student section.

Still in or nah?

After his team’s loss, Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett was asked if he thinks the Gaels are still an NCAA Tournament-caliber team.

Whether an appropriate question or not, the veteran coach and leader of a top-25 program was frank with analysts and “bracketologists” around the country.

“Do we need to discuss it?” Bennett asked rhetorically. “We were the second-winningest team in the country, I think. We had a team that was in the national championship last year in our league, and we were one game behind them.

“It shouldn’t be a discussion. But people make a lot of money discussing it.”

The Gaels, along with the rest of the at-large bids in America, will await Sunday’s selection show on TBS.

But for the record, ESPN's Joe Lunardi doesn't think the Gaels have a reason to worry.

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