Kevin Pangos, Gonzaga extend NCAA tournament streak to 16 years after WCC championship game win

For Kevin Pangos and his Gonzaga teammates, the West Coast Conference championship at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas was about extending a couple of lengthy streaks.

Tuesday night's game against Brigham Young was the 17th straight WCC championship game appearance for the Bulldogs. That was just the start — notch a win over BYU and they would secure entry into the NCAA tournament for a 16th consecutive year.

Gonzaga jumped out to a 44-27 halftime lead and while BYU managed to cut the deficit to eight late in the second half, the Zags held on for a 75-64 win and earned their ticket to the Madness.

Pangos, a native of Holland Landing, Ont., was quiet in the final. He finished with 11 points, all of them coming from the free throw line, as the Bulldogs put the ball in his hands when BYU was forced to foul late in the game to stop the clock.

A favourite of many Canadian basketball fans thanks to the presence of Pangos and past players like Kamloops' Kelly Olynyk and North Vancouver's Robert Sacre, Gonzaga has become a fixture of March Madness. Their 16 straight NCAA tournament appearances puts the Zags in the same conversation as powerhouse programs, Kansas (24 straight NCAA tournament appearances), Duke (18), and Michigan State (16), and Wisconsin (15).

It's the benefit of being the dominant program in a mid-major conference but playing in the WCC provides both comfort and questions for Gonzaga. There's endless debate over whether or not their success would carry over outside of their cozy conference. BYU's addition in 2012 has helped increase intra-conference competition but Gonzaga's reign has rarely been challenged. The only real push back came from a couple of feisty St. Mary's teams that grabbed WCC tournament titles in 2010 and 2012.

However, those discussions shouldn't overshadow just how good Gonzaga has been over the last decade and a half, even though this season their resume lacks the punch that they've brought to the tournament in the past. Yahoo Sports' bracket expert Brad Evans projects the Zags as a No. 9 seed. They've battled through periods of inconsistency and have had their fair share of struggles — those struggles never more evident than when they needed a layup in the dying seconds from David Stockton to squeak out a 77-75 win over Santa Clara this past Saturday.

Pangos figures to play a key role in how far Gonzaga can advance in the NCAA tournament. He wasn't at his best in Las Vegas, averaging 9.3 points and 1.3 assists over three games. The junior guard will need to be better if the Bulldogs stand any chance of making a run.

They'll be the first to admit that it wasn't the prettiest season but the little school from Spokane, Washington is back at the Big Dance and once again, they couldn't have done it without the contributions of a Canadian.