Day after Pacific, Wiltjer’s 45

Temporarily renamed the day-after post to acknowledge Kyle Wiltjer’s point-fest last night.

Here’s my game story , AP’s and the Stockton Record’s .

More below on GU (but mostly Wiltjer) below in my day-after post.

—Wiltjer has a few videos on youtube, one of him hitting 70 of 75 3-pointers and two of the trick-shot variety, behind-the-back half-courters and a full-court shot (the latter on his first attempt).

His latest performance was caught on camera, too, in high def even: A 38-minute masterpiece that saw the junior forward bury 15 shots and eight free throws as he piled up 45 points. That ranks third on GU’s single-game scoring list.

In typical Wiltjer fashion, when the points came, they came in a hurry. He hit his first basket, a baseline jumper, with 17:30 remaining in the first half. With 10:22 left, he’d scored 17 points. He scored the last five points of the half in the closing 2:45.

He had three assists early in the second half, but didn’t score his first points until a layup off a pretty spin move with 14 minutes remaining. He had 20 points over the next 11 minutes, then canned a 3-pointer with 10 ticks remaining.

“When he sees those first couple go in,” coach Mark Few said, “you don’t have to worry about him hunting (shots), you know.”

Wiltjer said he didn’t have any indication he was in for a huge night prior to the game.

“I had no idea,” he said. “I was just trying to win the game, the points just kind of came with it.”

Wiltjer’s stat line included a team-high six rebounds, four assists and just one turnover in 38 minutes.

“I try not to do just one thing,” he said. “I try to do whatever it takes.”

—Ex-Zag Kelly Olynyk was in attendance with the Celtics in the area to face Sacramento on Friday. He hung out in the locker room afterward, visited by a steady stream of players. I chatted with him for a minute and he said he’s getting better as he recovers from an ankle injury. He wasn’t sure when he’d return to game action.

I interviewed Gary Bell Jr. earlier this week for a feature story that ran in Thursday’s S-R. I asked him about his back-court running mate Kevin Pangos and Bell said he was one of the hardest working players he’s been around at Gonzaga. Top worker on Bell’s list: Olynyk.

STATS OF NOTE

—Wiltjer’s 45 points ranked behind Jean Claude Lefebvre’s 50 in 1958 and Frank Burgess’ 52 in 1961.

—Wiltjer’s 45 is the most by a Pacific opponent and the most at the Spanos Center, which opened in 1981.

—It’s the highest scoring game by a WCC player this season. Tyler Haws had 35 against Utah State.

—Bell snapped out of a three-game shooting slump. He hit 4 of 6 shots, 2 of 4 3s and finished with 12 points, five boards and two assists.

QUOTEBOOK

Pangos: “Early on they were helping off Wiltjer so he was the hot guy getting all the open shots. In other games they might help off other guys and focus on him. It makes us tough to guard because all five guys can score.”

Few: “He had had some nice, nifty post moves, but probably 10 of those were jumpers.”