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Zags no match for Memphis

Feb. 7, 2009 7:49 p.m. • 5 comments

Gonzaga’s nine-game winning streak came to an abrupt end Saturday as Memphis dominated the first 32 minutes, building a 26-point lead before holding off a late GU rally for a 68-50 victory at the Arena.

No. 18 Gonzaga had eight field goals and 11 turnovers while falling behind 40-23 at halftime. The 14th-ranked Tigers continued to pull away in the second half with a 7-0 spurt hiking their lead to 60-34 with 8:38 left.

With starters Jeremy Pargo, Matt Bouldin and Austin Daye essentially relegated to the bench, the Bulldogs scored 13 unanswered points to close within 60-47 with 3:35 left. Ira Brown’s three-point play made it 62-50 with 1:26 left, but the Tigers hit their free throws to seal their fourth win over GU in four years.

Micah Downs led GU with 13 points and Josh Heytvelt had 11. Tyreke Evans, an impressive freshman point guard, had 22 and Robert Dozier added 18 for the Tigers.

Game story in about two hours.

Five comments on this post so far. Add yours!

MikeSequim on February 07 at 9:04 p.m.
This game tells you exactly where you are in the National scene! We got just smoked!!!! I know nothing wil change this year but I’m really looking forward to having a point guard next year that is not overcome every time a News Camera come to the game. I actually expect the ball to be distributed next year. Gee, what a novel idea for a point guard!

It’s taken this coaching staff 3 years to do it but they FINALLY showed some guts and benched some players no matter what the outcome was going to end up. It just took them too long to do it.

Nice Game, Micah, Josh, DG, Steven, and Ira!

Good job Coach for the last 7-8 minutes!

Mike, Sequim
Richard on February 07 at 9:33 p.m.
That was the sorriest game I’ve ever seen Gonzaga play and I’ve watched them for years. They were totally intimidated, tripping over and bumping into themselves for three quarters of the game. Pargo looked completely out of it. The only players worth a damn were non-starters Micah, Ira and Demetrius. I too will welcome a new start next year. Coach Few should stop trying to be Lou Holtz - his pre-game comments about Memphis being the most athletically talented team in the country only seemed to psych out his players. How about replacing Few as game day coach with Giacolletti who I think would do better at mentally preparing of the team.
poulsbozagfan on February 07 at 10:44 p.m.
Very disapointing game….on game day no less! After a great 2nd half against Portland, I had high hopes for tonights game. What happened? The starters looked like they had other things on thier mind! Is something going on behind the scenes? So much for top 25…..Let’s hope coach can light a fire under the starters…….and congrats to Goodson for taking a leadership role…..