Zags rally past Gaels
Gonzaga rallied once, twice and then scored the game's last 12 points to take down Saint Mary's 70-60 on Saturday night, spoiling the Gaels' Senior Night for the second straight season.
My unedited game story is below. Day-after post in the A.M.
By Jim Meehan
Staff writer
MORAGA, Calif. – Mark Few might have invented a new word in describing Gonzaga’s ability to weather a mountain of adversity and come out with a win that senior guard Gary Bell Jr. called one of the best in his four seasons.
“It shows character, toughness,” said Few, after watching the third-ranked Zags score the last 12 points to rally past Saint Mary’s 70-60 in front of an overflow crowd of 3,500 Saturday at McKeon Pavilion. “I think it shows great teamness.”
To do it, the Zags needed two major comebacks, in addition to their closing kick. And to do that, they needed guys that weren’t having their best nights to come through in the game’s critical moments.
Kyle Wiltjer, coming off a 45-point performance Thursday, scored 11 of his 16 points in the last 6 minutes. He also had a blocked shot and seemed to grab every rebound in the final two minutes. Bell buried a key 3-pointer.
“If one guy made a play it kind of snowballed,” Wiltjer said. “We really picked each other up.”
Byron Wesley grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds, scored on a putback and hit two clutch free throws. Przemek Karnowski, after missing a few attempts from close range, made two layups late.
“Coach Few just came in and told us that it’s really something special for guys not having a good night to come together at the end,” said Wesley, who had eight points and nine rebounds.
It all added up to Gonzaga’s school-record 21st consecutive win, an outright WCC championship and kept the Zags (28-1, 16-0) on track for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
And for most of the night, it looked like all those things were in jeopardy. The Gaels’ fast start dialed up the decibel levels from an amped-up crowd on Senior Night. Center Brad Waldow scored on two post-ups in the first 90 seconds and Desmond Simmons started a flood of 3-pointers.
Five different Gaels combined to make 7 of 11 first-half 3s, making Gonzaga pay when it tried to double-team Waldow on the low block.
“We weren’t supposed to give them any 3s,” Few said. “How do you think we did with that in the first half?”
Not so good. The Gaels led 14-4 with game five minutes old, the largest deficit Gonzaga has faced this season (previously eight against Southeastern Louisiana).
The margin reached 17, but Gonzaga closed the half with a 10-4 spurt and kept the run going in the second half. The Zags closed within 42-41 only to see the Gaels regroup and assemble a 10-point lead.
GU was down by nine with 6:20 remaining when Wiltjer and Bell drained 3-pointers. Karnowski’s layup gave the Zags a 56-55 lead. Wiltjer scored on the low block to give GU a 62-60 lead with 1:50 left. Karnowski’s layup and six Wiltjer free throws closed out the Gaels.
“We took their best shot, we ate it and gave them about three or four pieces,” Bell said. “Just like Mayweather is going to do with Pacquiao.”
Few said the Zags settled down on both ends of the court in final 20 minutes.
“We played much better defense in the second half,” Few said. “And we got some multiple actions on offense instead of one side throwing it in. Those were the keys.”
Waldow finished with 19 points, but made just 8 of 20 shots.
“Up nine with 6 to go and we didn’t defend,” SMC coach Randy Bennett said. “And I didn’t think our shot selection was very good down stretch. We just took too many tough shots.”
Pangos and Karnowski each had 14 points. Pangos added seven assists and Karnowski grabbed seven boards.
