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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Postgame Tiff May Provoke League Action

West Coast Conference officials are in the process of determining what if any action should be taken against those involved in a potentially ugly incident last Thursday following Gonzaga University’s 71-69 victory over University of San Diego.

Assistant commissioner Don Ott confirmed Tuesday that the league is contacting all parties associated with the dispute that erupted when USD assistant coach Kyle Smith stormed the scorers bench to protest operation of the time clock during the final 4 seconds of the game. Smith accused longtime GU time keeper Rich Murphy of starting the clock early as the Toreros attempted to go the length of the court and launch a shot that could have tied or won the game. Smith was restrained, but a couple officials behind the scorers bench began pointing at Smith and screaming for his removal from the court.

Toreros head coach Brad Holland, thinking the bench crew was shouting at him, then rushed to the scorers’ table and engaged in a face-to-face shouting match with the time keeper and shot-clock operator. Game management personnel stepped in before any punches were thrown, but Holland claimed he was grabbed by the tie.

Ott said WCC commissioner Michael Gilleran already has talked with USD officials, who seem satisfied with the way GU’s acting athletic director, Mike Roth, responded to the incident. “The word that we have from them is that he was very up front and handled the situation as well as he could,” Ott said of Roth, who was put in charge of Bulldogs athletics when Dan Fitzgerald resigned late last month.

“And having traveled around the league, I have as much confidence in Gonzaga’s game management people as anybody’s. They do a good job; they know what a first-class program is supposed to look like on game night, and I have no concerns that they will make sure things are maintained in the future.”

Ott would not speculate on what actions might be taken against any of those involved, but admitted the league is particularly troubled by Holland’s claim that he was grabbed during the incident.

“If, indeed, that happened, then it’s a concern,” Ott explained, “Our job as a conference and as a host institution is to protect the visitors and all participants, so we would certainly want to make sure that never, ever happens again.”

Ott did not say when he expects the league to make its findings about the incident public.

Instant rematches

Thanks to a quirk in the schedule, Saint Mary’s and San Diego each get quick chances to avenge last week’s losses at Portland and Gonzaga.

Saint Mary’s, which lost 102-73 at GU on Saturday, entertains the Bulldogs Thursday night at 7:30 before hosting Portland at 3 p.m. Saturday.

San Diego, which dropped close games at Portland and Gonzaga, entertains the Pilots at 7 p.m. Thursday and the Bulldogs at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The instant rematch against Saint Mary’s is the first of three for Gonzaga this season. The Bulldogs also meet Santa Clara (Jan. 31 and Feb. 6) and travel partner Portland (Feb. 11 and Feb. 14) in back-to-back games.

Buy the numbers?

Gonzaga’s 15-4 start has produced plenty of good numbers, but few are as impressive as the Bulldogs’ shooting percentages.

GU leads the WCC in scoring (82.3 ppg), field-goal shooting (55.5 percent) and 3-point (45.2) shooting (45.2 percent). Even more remarkable is the fact that the Bulldogs have eight players - including sophomore center Axel Dench (10 for 20) and senior power forward Bakari Hendrix (2-for-5) - shooting 40 percent or better from 3-point range.

Notes

San Diego’s four WCC losses have come by a total of 10 points… . Santa Clara’s 13-3 start is its best in 20 seasons… . Portland’s 66-63 victory over USD last weekend pushed its win total to 10 - one more than the Pilots posted during the entire 1996-97 season when they finished 9-18… . After averaging 78.2 points per game against 12 non-conference opponents, Loyola Marymount is averaging just 59.3 points in its WCC games… . Saint Mary’s has lost eight of its last nine game with seven of the losses coming on the road… . Gonzaga’s Casey Calvary, a 6-foot-8 freshman forward, leads the WCC with 1.3 blocks per game despite playing only 12 minutes per game.

, DataTimes