What Gonzaga's Mark Few said after loss vs. Saint Mary's

The Bulldogs came up short in another close battle with the Gaels

Gonzaga head coach Mark Few. / Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

There was perhaps no better way to cap off an electric day of college basketball than with a West Coast Conference showdown between Gonzaga and Saint Mary's.

On a day filled with game-winners, upsets and crazy finishes across the country, the Bulldogs and Gaels delivered yet another epic finish from University Credit Union Pavilion in Moraga, California.

Despite clawing back from a double-digit deficit early on, the Zags (16-7, 7-3 WCC) came up short down the stretch of another close loss for Mark Few and company, as the Gaels (20-3, 10-0 WCC) strengthened their grasp on the WCC with a 62-58 win Saturday night.

Here's what Few had to say following Gonzaga's seventh loss of the season.

On Gonzaga fighting back from down 14 points in the first half:

St. Mary's Gaels forward Paulius Murauskas (23) shoots a layup against Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Graham Ike (13). / Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

"It's tough. I mean our guys fought like crazy and did a great job playing some really, really solid basketball at a tough venue; to dig yourself back into the game, put yourself in a position to win it and just, didn't make enough plays down the stretch. We had a couple of empty possessions, missed some close shots. We really had them flustered with the zone [defense] but we gave up some critical offensive rebounds."

On what the Bulldogs were looking for on their second-to-last offensive possession (Ike missed 3 in corner with 5 seconds left):

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Graham Ike (13) drives to the net in an attempt to tie the game against St. Mary's Gaels center Harry Wessels (1). / Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

"We were trying to get [Khalif Battle] coming back out and he literally got tackled and held. We got to fight off that better or something, but we didn't quite execute all the way through."

On the commonalities he's seen in each of Gonzaga's close losses this season:

St. Mary's Gaels guard Jordan Ross (2) drives to the net for a layup against Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Ryan Nembhard (0). / Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

"We're not making shots at the end of these games and we're not getting stops at the end of these games. We did a much better job with that this game. And again, it comes down to usually one play so you can't just point to this and say, well, we got to do this; it's a variety of things. But the numbers aren't good in the last 4 minutes. But actually the last 4 minutes weren't bad tonight, it was just finishing it off."

MORE GONZAGA NEWS & ANALYSIS

• What Gonzaga's Graham Ike, Ryan Nembhard said after loss vs. Saint Mary's

• Gonzaga falls to Saint Mary's in crucial WCC showdown: 3 takeaways

• Saint Mary's Gaels 62, Gonzaga Bulldogs 58: Live score recap, highlights

• Gonzaga's Mark Few on Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett: 'He's built a heck of a program down there'

• Gonzaga's Mark Few calls out 'idiotic' WCC travel schedule

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