Gonzaga produced a second-half comeback to win the West Coast Conference tournament championship with an 88-78 victory over BYU.

The Bulldogs improved to 26-0 after overcoming a 12-point halftime deficit and will be the first team to go into the NCAA Tournament since Kentucky in 2014-15. Jalen Suggs scored 23 points and Joel Ajayi added 18 while Corey Kispert had 17.

"We finally acknowledged this is a big deal", said Bulldogs head coach Mark Few on the possibly of an undefeated season. "It puts us in some incredible company. It's a heck of an accomplishment."

Trevin Knell led five BYU players in double figures with 20 points as the Cougars (20-6) were held to just 25 second-half points. Alex Barcello added 15 and Matt Haarms had 13.

Top-ranked Zags remain perfect, get past BYU for WCC title

Gonzaga has won eight of the last nine West Coast Conference tournament titles and 17th overall under FewBYU was seeking its first WCC title since joining the conference in the 2011-12 season.

BYU was hot from the field to start the game, hitting 10 of their first 16 shots. An 8-0 run capped by a Richard Harward layup gave the Cougars a 19-14 lead and a triple from Brandon Averette made it 26-19.

A Haarms dunk off of a pick-and-roll increased the lead to nine and five points in a row from Averette made it 35-23 BYU. Barcello nailed a three for a 42-30 lead and the Cougars went into halftime with a 53-41 lead.e

Gonzaga's Drew Timme (l.) tries to drive past BYU's Richard Harward (r.) during the West Coast Conference championship game/Photo: David Becker/Associated Press
Gonzaga's Drew Timme (l.) tries to drive past BYU's Richard Harward (r.) during the West Coast Conference championship game/Photo: David Becker/Associated Press

An 11-2 run by Gonzaga cut the lead to 55-52 after Kispert nailed consecutive three-pointers. He hit two free throws to bring the Bulldogs even at 57 and after each team went on a run, BYU held a slender 68-67 advantage.

Tied at 73, Suggs keyed the critical stretch of the game with consecutive triples to put Gonzaga ahead 82-73 and late free throws iced the game and kept the Bulldogs' record unblemished.

"We needed a game like that", Few said after Gonzaga won their school-record 30th straight game. "We had some adversity and got punched in the face. We got together at halftime and the guys just stuck with the plan."

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