Day after St. Thomas Aquinas
No. 13 Gonzaga faced winless Division-II St. Thomas Aquinas College (STAC) on Saturday and the result was predictable: GU 109, STAC 55. The margin of victory eclipsed GU’s 52-point win over Saint Joseph’s earlier in the week for most lopsided win in the McCarthey Athletic Center.
My game story here (Correction: GU's last non Division I game was last season against D-II Chaminade in Maui, not LCSC two years ago) and Colin Mulvany’s photos here.
More below in the day-after post.
--Kevin Pangos is still turnover free. For a few minutes, that wasn’t the case as he was assessed his first turnover of the season early in the second half. However, the decision was later reversed when it was deemed a Spartans player didn’t retain possession as he was sliding on the court. The ball was eventually claimed by GU, and Pangos finished the possession with a hockey assist – he fed Byron Wesley, who passed to Domas Sabonis for a layup.
Pangos was in full pass-first point guard mode. He had seven assists, boosting his season total to 23 without a turnover in 95 minutes. He’s had 7, 6 and 7 assists in his last three games. Pangos didn’t attempt a shot until scoring on a layup with just over 4 minutes left in the first half. The next time down he missed a 3 -- and that was the last of his FG attempts.
With GU's depth of scoring options and the ability to work inside-out, there will probably be many nights when Pangos’ primary role will be as a distributor.
--Gary Bell Jr. knew going into last night’s game that feeding the bigs would be the first priority.
“We knew they didn’t have any size,” Bell said. “We knew they couldn’t handle ‘Wiltj’, Shem, Angel, Domas.”
Bell had eight points, draining two 3s early in the second half. He had four rebounds and an assist.
Bell has 11 assists and two turnovers in 90 minutes this season.
--Nunez’s 24-point performance was a bit reminiscent of Kyle Dranginis’ 30-point night against Lewis-Clark State College two years ago. Nunez’s previous career high was 13 points.
Nunez hit three 3s in a 4:25 span as Gonzaga’s lead went from 17-10 to 31-18. The athletic 6-8 forward also finished with 11 rebounds, an assist and an acrobatic block on a STAC 3-point attempt. He didn’t turn the ball over in 19 minutes.
“Angel is capable of doing that,” coach Mark Few said, “when he just starts making the simple play and not worry about the flamboyant ones he can a very effective piece for us. And we need him to be. That’s a great option to have, each of those bigs are different. It was nice to see those balls go in for him.”
--The same thought applies to Byron Wesley and Kyle Wiltjer. Both have been scoring at a decent clip, but their shooting percentages (Wesley 44%, Wiltjer 39%) are a bit down.
That changed Saturday night as Wesley made 8 of 10 FGs, several buckets coming in transition, and 6 of 7 FTs en route to 22 points. He also had five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Wiltjer finished 7 of 8, his lone miss on a 3-pointer, both of his FTs for 17 points. He collected 11 rebounds for his first double-double.
STATS OF NOTE
--Nunez is 16 of 20 (80%) from the field in four games. He's 4 of 5 on 3s.
--Gonzaga has 91 assists and 42 turnovers in four games. Jose Perkins had seven assists but five turnovers against STAC.
--The Zags had their best effort of the young season at the FT line, hitting 18 of 23 (78.3%).
--GU was 22 of 29 (75.9%) from the field in the second half.
QUOTEBOOK
Bell on playing at Madison Square Garden: “I can’t wait, I can’t wait.”
Wesley on the atmosphere in the MAC: “I feel like we really have a home-court advantage. They pack it out. I’m still kind of shocked by it. Even tonight, I was thinking it wouldn’t be as crazy as it was.”
Nunez: “I think it’s awesome on our team because you never know who’s going to be the guy. We have some pretty consistent dudes who are going to play well every game, but you just never know whose game it’s going to be.”
Wiltjer on what he saw from Nunez: “Everything. He was rebounding, scoring, shooting. When we have that many weapons, that you can just come in the game and contribute like that, it just shows our depth.”
