Kyle Wiltjer breaks out as Gonzaga defeats Georgia
NEW YORK – Gonzaga’s game traveled, at least for its first 40 minutes away from home.
It wasn’t quite as smooth, or as balanced, or as defensive-minded, but it was effective. The Zags turned away Georgia’s second-half comeback for an 88-76 victory in the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals Wednesday in front of 5,128 at Madison Square Garden.
No. 10 Gonzaga (5-0), after winning on a neutral floor, goes for a road win when it takes on St. John’s in the championship game Friday. St. John’s, which plays the majority of its home games at MSG, rallied past Minnesota 70-61 in the other semifinal.
GU junior forward Kyle Wiltjer scored in nearly every way possible. He poured in 32 points, scoring from beyond the 3-point arc and at the rim – and everywhere in between. The Zags needed all of Wiltjer’s production as Georgia (3-2) came to life after coach Mark Fox was assessed a technical foul with 16:44 remaining.
Gonzaga led by 19 at that point but Georgia closed within eight. Wiltjer, Kevin Pangos and Byron Wesley helped hold off Georgia with timely field goals and free throws. Wiltjer connected on 14 of 26 shots and 3 of 4 free throws.
“Not a lot of my 3s went down but Kev was finding me on those pocket passes on open-side ball screens,” Wiltjer said, “and they were having a tough time guarding us down low.”
Fox made a calculated risk with Georgia’s defensive strategy.
“Their team was getting nearly 29 points a game from the 3-point line so we decided we were going to eliminate the 3-point line and let their posts play one-on-one,” Fox said. “And (Wiltjer) finished a lot of those plays. He’s just too good to play one-on-one.”
Pangos finished with 22 points, six assists and three steals. His streak of turnover-free minutes ended at 118.
Gonzaga’s Gary Bell Jr., Przemek Karnowski and Domantas Sabonis fouled out. Freshman Josh Perkins left late in the game after absorbing a hard shot to the face from Georgia guard Kenny Gaines’ knee. Coach Mark Few said Perkins went to the hospital for an X-ray and CT scan.
“I can’t remember being in that much foul trouble,” Few said. “We lost Domas, Przemek and Gary. Those are three of our top six guys right there. To be able to survive is a really good thing for our team, dealing with that kind of adversity. It gave guys like Angel (Nunez) a great opportunity and I thought Byron gave us a great second half after not playing well in the first half.”
Both teams were called for 27 fouls and both teams shot 35 free throws. GU made 32, Georgia 22.
Early on, it appeared the Zags might cruise to another easy win. Bell buried a 3-pointer 20 seconds in and GU’s lead quickly reached 10 after a Pangos’ 3 with 16:04 left.
Sabonis picked up three quick fouls and Karnowski two. Both spent most of the first half planted on the bench. Wiltjer spent the half, and the game for that matter, finding ways to score.
He hit a jump hook on Gonzaga’s second possession. He followed that with a nice pump-fake and drive down the left side of the lane for another basket. He scored inside to boost Gonzaga’s lead to 29-20.
“He can score that ball,” Pangos said.
UGa | FG | FT | Reb | ||||
(3-2) | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
Djurisic | 35 | 5-13 | 0-0 | 4-6 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
Thornton | 21 | 2-5 | 5-6 | 0-4 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
Parker | 26 | 2-4 | 2-2 | 0-3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
Mann | 33 | 7-13 | 9-15 | 1-6 | 5 | 4 | 23 |
Gaines | 25 | 1-5 | 4-6 | 0-1 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
Maten | 19 | 2-3 | 1-3 | 2-3 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
Forte | 2 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Kessler | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Geno | 6 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Frazier | 29 | 5-10 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 2 | 3 | 14 |
Totals | 200 | 25-54 | 22-35 | 9-29 | 11 | 26 | 76 |
Percentages: FG .463, FT .629. 3-Point Goals: 4-16, .250 (Frazier 4-8, Parker 0-1, Gaines 0-3, Djurisic 0-4). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 2 (Maten, Thornton). Turnovers: 9 (Thornton 4, Mann 3, Frazier, Djurisic). Steals: 8 (Mann 4, Djurisic 2, Thornton, Parker). Technical Fouls: Bench.
GU | FG | FT | Reb | ||||
(5-0) | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
Wiltjer | 35 | 14-26 | 3-4 | 0-4 | 0 | 2 | 32 |
Karnowski | 17 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 1-6 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
Pangos | 38 | 5-7 | 10-10 | 1-3 | 6 | 3 | 22 |
Bell Jr | 25 | 1-1 | 4-4 | 0-3 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
Wesley | 26 | 1-6 | 10-12 | 2-6 | 4 | 1 | 12 |
Nunez | 16 | 1-3 | 3-3 | 1-3 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
Dranginis | 20 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Sabonis | 13 | 1-3 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
Perkins | 10 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Totals | 200 | 26-52 | 32-35 | 7-35 | 16 | 27 | 88 |
Percentages: FG .500, FT .914. 3-Point Goals: 4-13, .308 (Pangos 2-3, Bell Jr. 1-1, Wiltjer 1-6, Nunez 0-1, Wesley 0-1, Dranginis 0-1). Team Rebounds: 7. Blocked Shots: 2 (Wiltjer 2). Turnovers: 9 (Nunez 2, Wesley 2, Pangos, Perkins, Karnowski, Sabonis, Wiltjer). Steals: 5 (Pangos 3, Sabonis, Bell Jr.).
Halftime—Gonzaga 46-33. A—5,128.