Williams, Norvell help No. 6 Gonzaga pull away from BYU, 79-65 for WCC title


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PROVO — Just like that, the regular season is over for BYU basketball.

Johnathan Williams had 16 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Zach Norvell Jr. added 15 points and five rebounds to help No. 6 Gonzaga pulled away from BYU, 79-65 in the final regular-season home game of 2017-18 at the Marriott Center.

Yoeli Childs led BYU with 19 points and eight rebounds, and Elijah Bryant scored13 of his 16 points the first half to go with four rebounds and three assists.

Jahshire Hardnett scored 10 of his 11 points in the first half for BYU, which clinched the No. 3 seed in next week's West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas with a 72-60 win Thursday night over Portland.

“I thought we started off slow, but we eventually started making shots,” Hardnett said. “In the second half, we just couldn’t get them to fall like we wanted to. They played with a sense of urgency.”

Josh Perkins supplied 13 points, six rebounds and seven assists for the Zags (27-4, 7-1 WCC), Silas Melson scored 12 and Killion Tillie supplied 10 points, six rebounds and three assists for the Zags.

“They hit shots, and we couldn’t,” said Bryant, who opened the game 0-of-5 from the field and finished 5-of-17. “It’s pretty much that, plain and simple.

“We had open shots, but they weren’t going down.”

With the win, Gonzaga won its sixth-straight West Coast Conference regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in next week’s WCC tournament in Las Vegas.

“Congratulations to Gonzaga for winning the championship, and coming in here and beating us,” said BYU assistant head coach Tim LaComb, who filled in for an ill Dave Rose after the game. “We kind of competed with them in stretches, but they had several guys step up and make plays. That’s what championship teams do.”

Gonzaga guard Silas Melson (0) reacts after dunking the ball while BYU guard Jahshire Hardnett (0) looks on in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018, in Provo, Utah. (AP Photo, Rick Bowmer)
Gonzaga guard Silas Melson (0) reacts after dunking the ball while BYU guard Jahshire Hardnett (0) looks on in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018, in Provo, Utah. (AP Photo, Rick Bowmer)

Hardnett hit a pair of 3-pointers early to keep the Cougars close. Hardnett’s second trey of the first half pulled BYU (22-9, 11-7 WCC) within 10-8 with 14:54 left in the half.

But Gonzaga drained back-to-back triples through Perkins and Melson to open a 10-0 run that put the Zags up 20-8 with just over two minutes later.

Haws scored six points during an 8-2 run that pulled the Cougars within six with 4:16 left in the half, and then Bryant woke up. BYU trailed just 43-38 after making six of its final eight shots — and that was after Perkins drained a 3-pointer that beat the halftime buzzer by six seconds.

Bryant had 13 points with three rebounds and three assists at halftime, and Hardnett followed with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting.

Gonzaga blitzed the Cougars with 57 percent shooting in the first half, led by Melson’s 12 points and nine more from Perkins.

“There were moments in the first half when it could’ve really gotten away from us. But our guys showed some character and got that thing back,” LaComb said. “Eli’s ball rattled around, or there was a good chance we could’ve been up at the half.

“The momentum was really good right there, and there’s a lot more basketball to play. But we were down in a hole, and getting back would’ve been big. Perkins hit a tough shot, but we could’ve fed off that a bit better.”

The Bulldogs held BYU to just one field goal for five minutes to open the second half, extending their lead to 52-41 on Williams’ jumper 15:34 remaining.

The Cougars made just five of their first 21 shots in the second half as Gonzaga pulled away for good. BYU finished shooting 38 percent, including 26 percent from the field in the second half with a 0-of-7 mark from beyond the arc.

“Sometimes you really look forward to the half, and sometimes it comes at a really tough time,” LaComb said. “I think we had gotten it where we wished we could’ve kept playing right there.

“We came out a bit tentative, and they executed really well and made some tough plays.”

Welcome home, Elder Wade

Former Davis High star Jesse Wade saw rare minutes in a road game for Gonzaga during the “senior night” trip to Provo.

The Kaysville native checked into the game at the 11:45 mark of the first half, and finished 0-of-1 shooting with one rebound in four minutes.

Wade, who recently returned from a two-year mission for the LDS Church in France, is averaging 1.6 points and 0.4 rebounds in 5.6 minutes of play for the Zags.

Next up

Gonzaga clinched the WCC title Saturday and will open the tournament at 8 p.m. MST Saturday.

BYU opens the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas at 2 p.m. MST Saturday.

“We just have to start playing ‘survive and advance,’ and hopefully survive and advance for a while,” LaComb said.

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