Zags Not About To Let It Slip Away Again
Gonzaga University’s men’s basketball team has passed this way before - as recently as last February, in fact.
With just two regular-season games remaining, the Bulldogs are in first place in the West Coast Conference and in control of their own postseason destiny.
They need just one victory in their last two games to grab at least a share of their third conference championship in five seasons and the No. 1 seed in the WCC tournament, which starts Feb. 28 at Santa Clara.
It’s a similar situation to the one GU faced last year when it entered the final week of the season tied for the conference lead, only to drop its last two regular-season games and finish in a tie for fourth place in the WCC.
But first-year coach Dan Monson is convinced this year’s team (20-7 overall, 9-3 in the WCC) is better prepared to deal with the pressures of a tough stretch run that includes a Thursday night showdown against third-place Pepperdine (15-9, 7-5) and a Saturday night matchup against last-place Loyola Marymount (7-17, 3-9).
Both games start at 7 at Martin Centre.
“The fact that our players have been through it before should help,” said Monson, a longtime GU assistant who took over when Dan Fitzgerald retired at the end of last season. “Most of them were here last year and they understand now what it takes. They learned something from the experience.”
“Yeah, we learned something,” senior forward Bakari Hendrix confirmed. “We learned that we don’t like the feeling, and we’re not going to let it happen again.”
The Bulldogs beat both LMU (93-68) and Pepperdine (77-64) on the road early in the year.
Also in GU’s favor is a home court advantage that has made the Bulldogs nearly invincible at Martin Centre in recent years. Gonzaga’s record at home is 10-0 this season and 83-7 over the past seven.
“It helps that the last two games are at home this year instead of on the road like they were last year,” Monson admitted. “But we can’t afford any lapses. We have to play these last (80) minutes like each one is our last minute of the season.”
From enemy to ally
If second-place Santa Clara (17-7, 8-4) hopes to become only the second school in league history to win or share four consecutive WCC titles, it will need some help from an old rival that all but ended those hopes last weekend.
The Broncos will undoubtedly be rooting for Pepperdine - the team that beat them 82-68 Saturday - to upset Gonzaga Thursday night. If GU loses one of its last two games and Santa Clara beats San Diego and Saint Mary’s at home this weekend, the Broncos can still earn a fourth-straight title, equaling the accomplishment of San Francisco, which had done it twice.
Farewell to an old friend
Prior to Saturday night’s regular-season finale against LMU, Gonzaga will say a final farewell to a longtime friend.
Bulldog players will serve as honorary pallbearers at the funeral of former play-by-play radio commentator and local sports icon Dick Wright, who died Monday after a long battle with cancer.
Wright’s funeral will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Aloysius Catholic Church.
3-pointers
Gonzaga’s Bakari Hendrix is the only player in the league to rank in the top five in scoring (No. 2 at 18.7 points per game), rebounding (No. 3 at 6.6 per game) and field-goal shooting (No. 5 at 52.9 percent). … Portland’s 73-60 loss to GU at Chiles Center last Saturday snapped the Pilots’ six-game home winning streak… . Last year, with 7-foot-3 center Brad Millard in the middle, Saint Mary’s led the WCC with 128 blocked shots. This year, with Millard sidelined with a broken foot, the Gaels ran last in blocks with 38.
, DataTimes