- Jim Root
Perhaps you saw Ford v Ferrari, the Academy Award-winning film depicting Ford Motor Company’s efforts to defeat racing juggernaut Ferrari in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In that Hollywood ending (spoiler alert), the underdog Ford ends up defeating Ferrari; in this far less cinematic WCC finale, (Jordan) Ford and his compatriots were instead ultimately routed by the Ferrari, aka Gonzaga’s flamethrower of an offense.
A year ago, a desperate St. Mary’s team mucked up the game against a monster Gonzaga squad, grinding things to a halt en route to a shocking 60-47 upset that vaulted the Gaels into the NCAA Tournament field. This time around, St. Mary’s was comfortably in the field entering the championship game, but it would require a similarly disciplined effort to take down the prolific Zags.
This one started similar to the Zags’ semifinal against San Francisco: Killian Tillie instantly declaring his authoritative presence (knocked down a triple to open the scoring) and an early Gonzaga mini-run to build a lead (17-10 tonight, 21-9 last night). Like the feisty Dons, the Gaels punched right back, though, taking a 21-19 lead behind the early brilliance of Malik Fitts, who quickly erased any memories of his putrid offensive performance against BYU.
“(Fitts) can do that…good scorers see the ball go through the net, it gives them confidence, it gives them a little mojo. He’s definitely that guy, he’s a momentum guy…He was on one tonight,” said Coach Randy Bennett of his junior foward’s torrid start to the evening (which included 4-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc).
Following the Fitts Fireworks Display, the first half then had two more distinct acts: the Jordan Ford Show and the Drew Timme Takeover. Ford put on a clinic for a four-minute period, scoring 13 consecutive Gael points with a variety of creative moves:
It started to feel like a showcase at points, with Ford just picking a different move to add to his highlight reel each time down the floor.
But despite building a 37-31 lead, nothing ever feels safe against this Gonzaga onslaught, as all seven primary rotation players can get going at a moment’s notice. That would be a theme for the rest of the game, although it wasn’t all seven to close the first half; instead, Timme ingested a Mario star and took over in the paint against the smaller or slower Gael big man. He rattled off nine more points before the end of the half, including two pretty and-ones, and his patience and deft footwork continually paid off:
I love the guards’ reactions, especially Gilder’s on the left wing
In addition to 15 first half points, Timme’s raw emotion fed a hungry pro-Gonzaga crowd that had been quieted by Ford’s surge, and despite the Zags only leading by one at halftime, it felt like the Bulldog burst that never came last night against San Francisco was waiting ominously on the other side of the break.
But first: Red Panda! She dropped her five-bowl flip! Can’t get a Las Vegas residency with a performance like that, smh.
The second half opened with a mini Gonzaga push out to an eight-point lead, but a Tommy Kuhse three kept things in range for the Gaels (for now). Kuhse could have taken 10+ triples in the second half if he wanted to (he took one), as the Gonzaga defense made a concerted effort to make the non-Ford, non-Fitts Gaels beat them.
“Every time I came off an on-ball (screen), they would double or send a second guy to try to get it out of my hands. It kind of caught me off guard a little bit, so I was trying to move it on and let somebody else make a play,” said Ford after the game, acknowledging that it was a little frustrating. Coach Mark Few said the tweak was “borne out of desperation…we needed to just take the ball out of Jordan Ford’s hands, he’s an unbelievable player.”
Tillie once again made a massive play, swatting the seemingly-unblockable Ford floater, and although Corey Kispert couldn’t pay it off with a transition lay-up, that play still gave a sense of “it won’t be the same kind of performance art” half from SMC’s virtuoso scorer.
Things stayed close for a couple minutes, but then Bennett made the fateful decision to try and get Fitts a quick breather on the bench after he had played the entire game to that point. The lead jumped from eight to 12 in three minutes without him; he later sat again for a minute and the lead immediately went from 11 to 15. In total, Fitts’ plus/minus was only -5 while playing nearly 34 minutes in an 18-point loss. For all of my math whizzes out there, that means the Gaels lost the other six minutes by 13 points. Fitts is just such a unique player on this roster with his combination of size, athleticism, and scoring ability.
The extension came as a result of the aforementioned wide array of weapons that this Gonzaga lineup boasts. Kispert started the half with a backdoor cut, Filip Petrusev got a bucket in the paint, Joel Ayayi had a couple drives, Admon Gilder found his offensive touch, and Kispert capped the first surge with a transition three. The second surge, a 14-3 run to put the game on ice, again featured points by four different Zags.
“The beauty of this team is our balance,” Coach Mark Few said after the game, and he’s right: take away the Zags’ leading scorers, and their complementary guys are good enough to be stars on any given night; Timme and Gilder combined for 32 points off the bench tonight. Gonzaga scored an eye-popping 1.35 points per possession in the WCC championship against its longtime league rival, nearly doubling the 0.78 PPP it managed in the same game last year, and while that squad might have had more obvious NBA pieces, this one is just as terrifying given its multitude of lethal scorers.
The victory locks the Zags in as the top seed in the West region, playing in Spokane in the opening round and LA in the regional semifinals and finals, giving this edition as good a shot as any to make another Final Four run. Saint Mary’s, meanwhile, will also find itself somewhere in the NCAA field, and any unfamiliar foe will have its hands full trying to stop the deadly combination of Ford and Fitts.
Ayayi (aka Ayayayayayi) won the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award, and he was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Timme and Petrusev, Ford, and Pepperdine’s Colbey Ross; noticeably absent was Tillie, the Zags’ best and most important player (in my humble opinion). He may not have gotten the media plaudits, but it’s Tillie that holds the ultimate key to making sure this Gonzaga team unlocks its national title potential in the NCAA Tournament.