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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Day after Dayton, morning of Chaminade

My boss suggested I bring a sleeping bag to the gym with the quick turnaround from GU's 84-79 loss to Dayton and its morning (here)/early afternoon (home) tip vs. NCAA Division II Chaminade today. Good idea, but I would have missed that morning symphony of birds outside the window that tends to make one forget their home address for a while.

Gonzaga would like to forget a lot of aspects from last night's game. Here's my game story, A.P.'s,  and one from the Dayton Daily News. More below in my day-after post.

 

 

--Gonzaga had a size advantage inside, and seemed to exploit it for a good chunk of the first half, mainly with Dower and some contributions from Karnowski. Dayton had quickness, athleticism and depth advantages in the frontcourt and those eventually became key factors in the game.

The deeper Flyers beat GU in terms of positioning, reaction and effort, hence a major disparity in rebounding. It also created foul trouble throughout for GU’s bigs and had Dower/Karnowski playing softer defensively to avoid hearing another whistle.

Whistles, in general, were a prominent theme in the contest. There were 54 fouls – granted GU was forced to foul several times in the closing minutes – and 60 free throws attempted. As I’ve mentioned before, Pangos and Bell were rarely in foul trouble in their careers but they have been several times this season with the new rules emphasis. Both were in foul trouble last night – Pangos fouled out with 22.8 seconds left, Bell’s playing time was limited in the first half with two fouls. (I did write a note to myself for when I watch the replay back home -- courtside it looked like an iffy fourth foul on Pangos with 1:42 left)

--In case you missed it yesterday, Chaminade gave Baylor fits for a half before the talented Bears took over in the final 20 minutes. Actually it was Chaminade’s Christophe Varidel, who made 10 3s and scored 42 points, one shy of Adam Morrison’s record set in 2005, that gave Baylor fits.

The Florida Gulf Coast transfer came out of the game twice, once in the closing minute or so, despite having a shot at the record and the game essentially decided. GU can’t afford to let Monday’s loss linger facing an underdog opponent that enjoyed serious crowd support against Baylor. And the Bulldogs have had problems against high-scoring guards (see Dayton’s Jordan Sibert, Colorado State’s Jon Octeus, Bryant’s Dyami Starks, etc.).

STATS OF NOTE

--The victory over Gonzaga gives Dayton three wins over top 12 opponents in Maui. The Flyers won the 2003 tourney.

--Pangos finally missed a free throw, his first of the season, in the closing minute. He made his first 24 and is now 28 of 29.

--Pangos’ 27-point night bumped his scoring average to 20.4.

--Gonzaga had just 5 offensive rebounds. Dayton corralled 18.

--Stockton finished with seven assists and Dranginis had three. Pangos and Bell combined for one assist in 68 minutes.

QUOTEBOOK 

      Few: “We were battling foul trouble all night long so we had some kind of strange lineups and scenarios out there. But Dayton did a great job of just staying with the game, and staying with the game and then took it to us physically there.”

      Pangos on picking up fifth foul in closing seconds: “Yeah, early on I knew I had four fouls and I just kind of blanked there. I guess some of the coaches were telling me and that was my fault.  I should have known and known the foul situation.”

      DAYTON QUOTES COURTESY FROM TOURNAMENT RELEASE

      Coach Archie Miller: “Well, obviously, a heck of a game.  You know, Gonzaga’s a terrific team.  We had a lot of respect coming in for them.  You know, obviously the game kind of swiftly changed in the second half early on.  It's a credit to some of these guys sitting right here, guys weren't panicked at halftime at all.

       Very simple couple things that we talked about.  Our guys were able to do that.  Once we started to make a few shots and get a little confidence, obviously, at that point in time it was a 50‑50 game.

       At the end of the day, the way we rebounded the ball and made timely shots, that's what college basketball is about.  Players make plays.  Just very, very proud of our group.  A very together group right now.  Believing in one another is something that we talked about.  They're having an opportunity to do it on a big stage, so hopefully they'll continue to keep believing in one another.”

        Sibert on crowd support: “It was a home game for us. To feel the energy and whenever we made a run to feel the crowd behind us, it was able to give us more energy to be able to go out there and play our game. It was definitely great to have our crowd behind us.”



Jim Meehan
Jim Meehan joined The Spokesman-Review in 1990. Jim is currently a reporter for the Sports Desk and covers Gonzaga University basketball, Spokane Empire football, college volleyball and golf.

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