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Zags lose Harris, game

Posted by Jim

Dec. 5, 2009 8:28 p.m. • 10 comments

Back with the game story from Wake Forest’s 77-75 win over Gonzaga on Saturday. The game took a U-turn when GU freshman forward Elias Harris was tossed for a flagrant technical foul late in the first half.

Read my unedited game story below, and check back tomorrow morning for a day-after post.

By Jim Meehan

Gonzaga had the upper hand, until a misplaced elbow turned the momentum.

Cruising with a nine-point lead late in the first half, Bulldogs freshman forward Elias Harris was ejected for a forearm to the throat of Wake Forest’s Chas McFarland – seconds after Matt Bouldin was whistled for a foul on C.J. Harris’ 3-pointer.

C.J. Harris made 2 of 3 free throws for Bouldin’s foul and both freebies for Harris’ flagrant technical. When Ari Stewart buried a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, Wake Forest essentially had a seven-point play in the span of 14 seconds.

The surge and Stewart’s blazing perimeter shooting continued as the Demon Deacons built a 14-point second-half lead, then weathered a spirited comeback by the 17^th-ranked Bulldogs for a 77-75 men’s basketball victory in front of 6,000 Saturday at the McCarthey Athletic Center. It was Gonzaga’s fourth loss in 69 games on its home court.

Harris, Gonzaga’s leading rebounder and second-leading scorer, watched the second half on television in the locker room. It appeared McFarland caught Harris earlier with an elbow.

“I saw the replay on TV, too, and I didn’t even recognize that he clipped me with the elbow,” Harris said. “I just stepped back and just normal underarm on his chest and went for the rebound. He just fell.”

McFarland said Harris’ elbow struck him in the Adam’s apple.

“That was huge,” McFarland said of the momentum shift. “He’s a great player and that took him out the rest of the game.”

Gonzaga (6-2), which led by 13 with 7:50 left in the first half, trailed 34-33 at half when Stewart made another 3-pointer with two seconds left. The 6-foot-7 freshman made two more 3s in the second half, the last helping stake Wake Forest to a 55-41 lead, and finished with 17 points in 14 minutes.

The Bulldogs, without Harris and with limited production from center Rob Sacre, found a spark from reserve forward Bol Kong. He matched Stewart’s 4-of-4 3-point shooting to spur Gonzaga’s rally. Bouldin and Steven Gray made repeated trips to the free-throw line and the Bulldogs pulled within 72-71 on Kong’s 3 with 2:49 remaining.

“I tried to stay focused and ready and I knew at some point my time would come,” Kong said. “You almost felt like you had an extra player on the team when the crowd gets into it.”

C.J. Harris, who made 13 free throws on his way to 19 points, made two foul shots. After Bouldin’s driving layup, Wake Forest’s Al-Farouq Aminu, saddled with foul trouble most of the game, dunked off an alley-oop pass from Ishmael Smith to restore a three-point lead.

After Gray missed a 3-pointer as the shot clock was expiring, Aminu misfired on two free throws with 31.5 seconds left. Bouldin missed a step-back 3, but Gonzaga got the rebound and Gray was fouled on a 3-point attempt.

Gray, an 82.4 percent free-throw shooter, made the first, but was short on the next two. Stewart’s free throw made it 77-74 and the Demon Deacons didn’t permit another 3-point attempt, fouling Bouldin in the back court. He made the first and missed the second on purpose, but he also missed the rim, firing the ball hard off the backboard. Wake Forest threw a long inbound pass that Gray deflected but time ran out as he saved the ball near the sideline.

Gonzaga made just 21 of 34 free throws (61.8 percent). Wake Forest had 16 offensive rebounds en route to a 42-36 edge on the glass and a 14-9 advantage in second-chance points.

What hurt Gonzaga even more was the Demon Deacons’ shooting. Suspect entering the game at 31.6 percent from beyond the arc and 63.6 percent at the free-throw line, they made 8 of 15 3s and 21 of 28 free throws.

“We don’t want to shoot too many 3s,” said coach Dino Gaudio, whose club launched 36 3s in a loss to William & Mary. “I don’t even know if I’m comfortable with us shooting 15 3s, but we had the right guys shooting them.”

Bouldin had 22 points and five assists. Gray scored all 11 of his points in the second half.

“We have to change a few things, come out stronger and if we build a lead not lose it so quickly,” said freshman wing Manny Arop, who contributed nine points, nine rebounds and four assists. “There was a point where the lead just shifted and we have to keep our composure, even when one of our best players gets ejected. That was a turning point and then we were fighting back the whole time.”

Gonzaga displayed plenty of fight, but couldn’t duplicate its come-from-behind wins against Colorado, Cincinnati and WSU from the last two weeks.

10 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

MikeSequim on December 05 at 9:57 p.m.
What a sad situation. Reading his quote sounds like he somehow didn’t do what the TV showed he did and what the Ref’s rightly called. The loss shouldn’t have happened but it did. The team just moves on. The tragedy may very well be Elias’s unwillingness to see he screwed up! He didn’t make his team lose but he certainly was a major contributor. Will be interesting to see how the Coaching staff, Team and Elias handles this. Good game Matt, Manny, Bol and KO!
MikeSequim on December 05 at 10:11 p.m.
The quote I’m referring to is on the GU Athletic site. GOZAGS.COM…………..”My feeling is I did nothing wrong” but the one Jim put here also shows he’s just not seeing it! Sad.
rterrylynch on December 05 at 11:04 p.m.
Tough game but well played. It was a major downer for the team to lose Harris but these things happen. They had the Demons on the ropes and let them slip away. This team will do better this year with the great depth of talent they have. I know that sounds unbelievable but it is amazing to see how well the “new” guys are doing and how they can contribute.
tseppa on December 05 at 11:58 p.m.
Elias Harris’ forearm to the throat looked as flagrant, intentional and dirty as the hairpulling female soccer player’s nastiness we witnessed on all the news programs a few weeks back.

His unwillingness to acknowledge it with shame and apology simply adds to his offense, in my book. I do love his scrappy and tenacious energy, but he’d better not demonstrate that kind of brutality again, or he’ll lose his spot on the squad. I hope that Coach Few gives him another chance, but lays a clear line in the sand prohibiting any more of such violent combat.
nevtelen on December 06 at 9:47 a.m.
ESPN definitely showed the play about 30 million times and I think Harris’ comments are right on - he made a move to shove McFarland back for a box-out and missed his mark. If he hit him in the chest like I’m sure he intended to we’re not talking about this at all right now. No way Harris meant to hit him in the throat. You see that play 100 times a day in NCAA bball, just most guys push off on the chest. Harris’s big problem was that he accidentally missed. Let’s not make this something it’s not.
bid on December 06 at 11:06 a.m.
The blow to the throat was in the heat of competition, but Harris’ denial of doing what the cameras clearly showed is unacceptable. Harris knows nothing about being a man, apparently. The video clearly showed him turning around and looking McFarland in the face before hitting him - no question about his intent there. Its surprising that the officials took 10 minutes of video review before making that very obvious ruling. Blows to the head/neck during live action creates a very dangerous situation and should not be allowed under any circumstances. Now Mark Few has some decisions to make about whether to allow Harris to continue to be an embarassment to the program, or whether to discipline him and let him continue playing.
DeerLakeRon on December 06 at 1:40 p.m.
Has Few made any public comments about this stuff yet. It will be interesting to hear what he thinks sespecially after having a chance to watch replays. The key would be there is a lot differance between a push to the chest and the blow Harris did. looking at the eyes and timming tell the story. With that said he is young and youg guys deserve second chances. JUst like Blunt from Oregon. Not sure how good of comparrison that is though.
Mike_Pritchard on December 06 at 1:42 p.m.
“Mark Few has some decisions to make about whether to allow Harris to continue to be an embarassment to the program.”

Now that’s just hilarious. +1, sir! +1!

Oh…you were serious. Well…I…yeah, I don’t know where to go with that. I’m just thankful that we have such eagle eyes on the moral scene, otherwise there’s no telling what would happen. The Zag World as we know it would surely collapse on itself, though, I do know that.
MikeSequim on December 06 at 6:46 p.m.
DLR,

I can’t find any comments from the Coaching staff today anywhere. GU is a very tight lipped program as it should be and I would expect Coach Few to handle the situation just fine. I’m not sure how Elias will handle it or Meech with his “T” but both are very fixable situations. I would expect the possibility of Elias not starting on Wed. but coming in quickly. Thats just a guess though.
Jeremy on December 06 at 8:42 p.m.
People are blowing this way out of proportion. To call Harris an embarrasment to the program is a ridiculous overreaction. Give the kid a break. He plays hard and goes after every loose ball. Announcers comment on his high motor and nose for the ball. I think this is more of a case of playing too physical than anything. McFarland made the forearm look worse than it was by flopping.