SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Gonzaga has seen its share of star players during the program's remarkable seven-year postseason run. Adam Morrison might just become the best of them all.

With his old-fashioned striped socks and floppy hair, he is a major reason the 11th-ranked Bulldogs are headed to their seventh straight NCAA tournament.

Morrison scored 30 points and keyed a big second-half run to lead Gonzaga to its sixth West Coast Conference tournament title in seven seasons, 80-67 over Saint Mary's Monday night.

"Adam's a big-time player," Zags coach Mark Few said. "The bigger the moment, the better he is. He is the reason we've run off as many straight as we have. He's defending and he's making everybody better on both ends."

After losing WCC Player of the Year Blake Stepp, Cory Violette and three other seniors from last year's team that went 28-3, some questioned whether Gonzaga would still be the top team in the much-improved WCC.

With senior Ronny Turiaf and J.P. Batista dominating the inside, Derek Raivio running the point, and Morrison scoring at ease, the Bulldogs wouldn't give up their hold on the title.

"Obviously being how young we are, over the summer we heard a lot of whispers about us finishing second or fourth in this league, and it kind of put a little chip on our shoulders," said Morrison, the tournament MVP. "We read the Web sites. We heard what people were saying around town."

Turiaf added 18 points and 14 rebounds as the Zags (25-4) earned their 12th consecutive victory and beat the second-seeded Gaels in the title game for the second straight season.

At St. Louis, Creighton leaned heavily on its bench, and the usual barrage of 3-pointers, to win its fifth Missouri Valley Conference tournament in seven years.Reserves Dane Watts and Jimmy Motz combined for half of the school's 12 3-pointers and the Bluejays pulled away late.

At Buffalo, Juan Mendez could finally breathe easy. The weight of Niagara's 34-year NCAA tournament drought is over.Starting with a massive dunk, the senior forward hit 10 of his first 12 shots and finished with 27 points in leading the Purple Eagles. The win clinched Niagara's second NCAA tournament berth, and first since 1970 when the Calvin Murphy-led Purple Eagles reached the second round. It also ended a string of frustrating close calls for a program that had lost two MAAC championship games in the last three years, and three since joining the conference in 1989.

At Richmond, Alex Loughton, winner of the Colonial's player of the year award, carried Old Dominion to the NCAA tournament. The 6-foot-9 forward from Australia scored six of his 28 points in overtime.The Monarchs (28-5), who might have been able to lose and still get in the field of 65, didn't want to leave it up to the selection committee. They didn't.