Championship Preview

Courtesy ESPN.COM
KATE HEDLIN, STATS Writer

Saint Mary's never really had a chance at challenging Gonzaga for the West Coast Conference regular-season title after leading scorer Patrick Mills broke his hand in a loss to the Bulldogs in January. With Mills back on the court, the league's tournament title still could be theirs. In a game that could be critical to their NCAA tournament hopes, Mills and the Gaels face No. 14 Gonzaga in the WCC tournament championship game Monday night in Las Vegas.

Saint Mary's (25-5) and Gonzaga (25-5) were tied for the WCC lead when they met in Spokane, Wash. on Jan. 29. Mills -- at the time leading the Gaels with 18.7 points per game -- broke two bones in his right hand in that contest, which St. Mary's lost 69-62. The sophomore guard would miss the remainder of the regular season.

Mills returned to the court Sunday and scored 12 points to help Saint Mary's beat Portland 71-61 in the conference tournament semifinals. The Gaels, who finished the regular season four games behind Gonzaga in league play, haven't been to the tournament finals since 2005, when they lost to the Bulldogs.

"It took longer than I hoped to warm up, but that's OK, because it was a good warmup for (Monday)," said Mills, who is averaging 20.3 points in his career against the Bulldogs. "There were times when I tried to baby it a bit, but once I got in the flow, it was all right. It was stiff to start out, but it felt good to be out there, especially with the boys again."

Saint Mary's now hopes Mills will help it win its first WCC tournament title since 1997. "His leadership coming back, it helps us," teammate Diamon Simpson said. "You could feel it in the locker room. Everybody was smiling and feeling good." Beating the Bulldogs won't be easy.

Gonzaga has won eight of the last 10 WCC tournament titles, with losses to San Diego in the 2003 and 2008 title games. The Bulldogs reached the finals for a 12th straight time by beating Santa Clara 94-59 on Sunday.

Though leading scorer Josh Heytvelt managed a season-low three points, the Bulldogs got plenty of production from other sources. Austin Daye scored a career-high 28 points and Micah Downs added 18 while shooting 4 of 5 from beyond the arc. Gonzaga connected on a season-high 13 3-pointers, and led by as many as 40 points.

"It's hard to stop us when we have our break going and we're having fun," said senior guard Jeremy Pargo, who had 16 points. The win was Gonzaga's eighth straight and 17th in the last 18 games. Four of the last six wins have been by 30 points or more. Heytvelt, though, is averaging only 8.7 points in the last three games -- well below his 14.8 season average.

The senior forward looks to bounce back Monday against Saint Mary's. He scored 20 points in a 72-70 road win over the Gaels on Feb. 12, though he managed only nine against them at home in the Jan. 29 matchup. The Bulldogs have won three straight meetings against St. Mary's and 25 of the last 28 in this series, including six WCC tournament contests.