LAS VEGAS – BYU was near-perfect in the first half of the West Coast conference tournament final against No. 1 Gonzaga.
It’s not perfect enough, though.
Jalen Suggs scored 23 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Kispert scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half to help Gonzaga nullify a 12-point deficit at halftime and get BYU, 88- 78, to win the West Coast Conference Tournament. title Tuesday night at the Orleans Arena.
Joel Ayayi added 18 points and nine rebounds for the Zags, who improved to 26-0 with their 30th straight win last season.
Trevin Knell added 20 points, including five triples, to lead BYU; and Alex Barcello added 15 points, six rebounds and four assists; and Matt Haarms contributed 13 points, four rebounds and a blocked shot for the Cougars.
Brandon Averette added 11 points and four assists for the Cougars (20-6), and Gideon George added 11 points and five rebounds.
Beware, here it comes @ZagMBB!
55-52 BYU early in the second half.
📺 ESPN
📍 @UCU_LA#WCChoops Tournament pic.twitter.com/Whiyso2YjU– WCC Basketball (@WCChoops) March 10, 2021
The Cougars played the first half as perfect as you can play against Gonzaga, the best ranked. They shot 68% from the field, including 82.3% in effective field goals, beating the Zags 17-13 with a 15-9 margin on defensive glasses, and asserted themselves in the 18-16 paint.
Everything meant a 53-41 lead at the break. But the Zags hadn’t come down.
Especially not Kispert.
The senior striker scored three triples outside the break and tied the game at 57 from the free throw line with 13:49 left. Then, while BYU was missing the first nine 3-point attempts in the second half, Kispert led another 12-0 run that brought the Zags up 71-68 with just six minutes to go.
Suggs hit three to three on his back to dodge a 23-to-5 run late and definitely got away.
. @trevin_knell = 🪣 pic.twitter.com/2jyEEHYUb5
– BYU Basketball (@BYUbasketball) March 10, 2021
This story will be updated.