Gonzaga extends trends in third win
It’s just three games, but some trends appear to be emerging for the Gonzaga men’s basketball team.
The 14th-ranked Bulldogs stayed true to their early-season form – solid defense, dominating board work and following up a subpar or so-so half with a stellar one – in cruising past UC Riverside 84-48 Saturday in front of a crowd of 6,000 at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
Gonzaga (3-0) held its third consecutive opponent to less than 55 points and 38 percent shooting. In terms of points allowed, it’s GU’s best three-game stretch since the 2001-02 season when it gave up 44 to Washington State, 45 to Eastern Oregon and 54 to Monmouth. (That run was preceded by a 67-47 win over Washington.)
“We’re really setting a stance on the defensive end,” said junior forward Micah Downs, who was part of an effort on Highlanders guard Larry Cunningham, who came in averaging 17.5 points per game but didn’t crack the scorebook until 11:57 remained in the game.
The Zags outrebounded UC Riverside (0-4) by 13 to go with plus-11 and plus-19 margins against Montana and Idaho, respectively. Guards Jeremy Pargo and Matt Bouldin combined for 11 of GU’s 38 boards.
“For kind of being an undersized squad at times, we’re flying around and rebounding pretty well,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “Our guards are rebounding much better than they were 10 days ago.”
After a brief lull that saw the Highlanders pull within 29-24, GU responded with the last eight points of the first half and nearly doubled the visitors (46-24) in the second half.
“Our first two games we’ve had kind of a Jekyll-and-Hyde thing going,” forward Abdullahi Kuso said. “We’re just trying to be more consistent.”
One more trend – true freshman forward Austin Daye led Gonzaga in scoring for the third straight game. He had 16 points, three blocks and three assists. He’s scored 54 points in 74 minutes of playing time.
“I’m getting good shots,” Daye said. “If I get a good shot, I have confidence in myself that I’m going to make it.”
GU sprinted out to leads of 12-4 and 22-10. It was 29-17 when Gonzaga misfired on four 3-pointers and another shot attempt was blocked. The Highlanders, concluding a four-game, 10-day road trip to open the season, closed with 29-24 on Severin Gates’ 3-pointer, but Daye countered with two free throws and Downs drove the lane for a three-point play. Pargo added a field goal and David Pendergraft’s putback just before the buzzer made it 38-24 at half.
“We played really solid in the first half, but I thought we had a little space there where we took four or five straight 3s,” Few said. “We were having a lot of success getting the ball to the rim.”
GU’s lead grew from 43-28 to 56-29 with a rapid sequence of easy buckets. Robert Sacre’s dunk and layup and two more layups by Pargo made it 51-28. Daye and Downs hit from the outside to cap the run.
“Again, it starts with our defense,” Few said. “And then we get it off the glass and push it ahead and it kind of flattens the defense out. It makes things easier than when you’re taking it out of the net and having to walk it up.”
Kuso (13 points) and Sacre (12) helped GU to a 46-16 edge in points in the paint. The Bulldogs made 52.6 percent of their shots.
“They played us 1-on-1 in the post and we had scouted them enough that we were prepared,” Kuso said. “I just took advantage of the opportunity.”
Gonzaga 84, UC Riverside 48
| FG | FT | Reb | |||||
| UC Riverside(0-4) | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Soto | 9 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Scott, A | 34 | 2-4 | 0-2 | 1-4 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Diggs | 33 | 1-8 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Cunningham, S | 32 | 4-9 | 1-2 | 1-4 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| Cunningham, L | 32 | 4-11 | 3-3 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Barlow | 15 | 2-3 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| Gates | 20 | 4-7 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| Johnson | 5 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Visman | 7 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Scott, J | 13 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Totals | 200 | 20-53 | 6-9 | 6-25 | 10 | 19 | 48 |
Percentages: FG .377, FT .667. 3-Point Goals: 2-14, .143 (Gates 1-1, Diggs 1-5, Johnson 0-1, Barlow 0-1, L.Cunningham 0-2, S.Cunningham 0-4). Team Rebounds: 25. Blocked Shots: 4 (L.Cunningham 2, Gates 1, Soto 1). Turnovers: 17 (L.Cunningham 5, S.Cunningham 3, Barlow 3, A.Scott 2, Gates 1, J.Scott 1, TEAM 2). Steals: 6 (L.Cunningham 3, A.Scott 2, Gates 1). Technical Fouls: None.
| FG | FT | Reb | |||||
| Gonzaga (3-0) | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Pendergraft | 18 | 3-4 | 0-2 | 2-4 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Kuso | 17 | 4-8 | 5-6 | 1-1 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| Pargo | 29 | 6-12 | 1-2 | 0-5 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
| Bouldin | 24 | 2-9 | 2-2 | 1-6 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| Downs | 31 | 3-8 | 1-1 | 1-4 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Daye | 24 | 4-8 | 7-7 | 0-2 | 3 | 3 | 16 |
| Sorenson | 5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gurganious | 19 | 1-1 | 2-2 | 2-5 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Sacre | 16 | 5-5 | 2-2 | 0-3 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| Davis | 5 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Foster | 4 | 1-1 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Brown | 8 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 200 | 30-57 | 21-26 | 10-38 | 15 | 11 | 84 |
Percentages: FG .526, FT .808. 3-Point Goals: 3-12, .250 (Downs 2-5, Daye 1-1, Pargo 0-1, Pendergraft 0-1, Bouldin 0-4). Team Rebounds: 38. Blocked Shots: 7 (Daye 3, Kuso 2, Sacre 1, Brown 1). Turnovers: 10 (Pargo 2, Downs 2, Daye 2, Gurganious 2, Davis 1, Kuso 1). Steals: 7 (Downs 2, Pargo 1, Bouldin 1, Daye 1, Gurganious 1, Sacre 1). Technical Fouls: None.
Halftime–Gonzaga 38, UC Riverside 24. A–6,000.