Good morning. Gonzaga received an unexpected test last night from Southeastern Louisiana. The Zags trailed by one at half but dominated the second half and won 76-57.

Here's my game story and Jesse Tinsley's photos.

Read on for more on Josh Perkins' jaw, Kevin Pangos' record pursuit and last night's game.

--We begin with Perkins, who suffered a broken jaw last Wednesday against Georgia, courtesy of a kick from Kenny Gaines. Perkins will need at least one and possibly two surgeries on his jaw, which remains dislocated.

That’s tough news for the true freshman, who was playing a key role as Kevin Pangos’ backup.

Perkins said the doctor will set and plate his jaw. The surgery could take place today but more likely on Monday.

“Hopefully they can do it in one procedure,” coach Mark Few said. “It might take two to get everything right. It’s bad. It’s going to be a long time.”

It won’t be an easy recovery for Perkins. In addition to the surgery, or surgeries, Perkins’ diet has obviously changed with his jaw wired shut and that will have an impact on his weight, strength, stamina, etc. Down the road, he’ll be limited with what he can do on the court and can’t be involved in drills with any risk of contact.

Numerous readers/tweeters asked if Perkins is a candidate for a medical redshirt. That will depend on information gathered during his surgery and the length of his recovery, but it’s certainly become a possibility.  Players are eligible to apply for a medical redshirt if they’ve participated in less than 30% of their team’s games.

Perkins has played in five games.

--Pangos made a pair of 3-pointers, the second moving him past GU radio analyst Matt Santangelo into third place on the school’s all-time list. Pangos has 253 3s. Next on the list is Richie Frahm at 280. Blake Stepp is No. 1 with 288.

Pangos had another solid night offensively, scoring 12 points and handing out three assists. Pangos, like many of his teammates, had some issues on the defensive end in the first half trying to contain Lions guards, particularly Joshua Filmore and Zay Jackson.

“We weren’t playing how we can play on defense,” wing Byron Wesley said. “We had a lot of lapses. There were a lot of times we could help our teammates and shrink the gaps and stay with our defensive principles and we kind of got away from that.”

Gonzaga turned it around in the second half. Jackson didn’t score in the final 20 minutes. Filmore had 5 of his team-high 14 points, but the two guards combined for seven second-half turnovers.

 “We just came out a step too slow on defense, that was the main thing,” forward Kyle Wiltjer said. “We weren’t getting stops, we were giving them straight-line drives. We wanted to get in gaps in the second half and play Gonzaga basketball and I thought we did that.”

--It’s getting harder to keep up with the number of watch lists/honors Pangos is up for this season. He added a couple more Wednesday. He’s on the Naismith Trophy’s Top 50 watch list. He’s also nominated for the Allstate Good Works team.

Pangos is on the Wooden Award’s preseason top 50, the Cousy Award’s watch list and the Lute Olson Award watch list.

STATS OF NOTE

--SE Louisiana’s 49-percent shooting was the highest against GU this season. Georgia had the previous high at 46.3. Throw in St. John’s 36.7% and GU has allowed its three highest shooting percentages in the last three games.

--SE Louisiana limited the possession by milking the shot clock, but Gonzaga only attempted two free throws in the first half and seven for the game. The Zags made all seven. Their previous low for attempts was 17.

--Domas Sabonis reached double figures for the sixth time in seven games.

--Pangos, WIltjer and Wesley have been in double figures five times.

--Kyle Dranginis had a solid 13-minute stint, scoring 5 points to go with 3 assists.

QUOTEBOOK

Wiltjer on whether GU overlooked SE Louisiana with Arizona looming on Saturday: “At the end of the day it doesn’t matter what we had before or after this (game), so that’s on us.”

Few: “Southeastern Louisiana did a great job of coming in here with a plan and really executing it.”

Bell on Arizona: “It’s going to be a tough game. We had some tough games in New York, which is perfect for this.”

 

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