Two hours sleep after an early wake-up call, but TSA pre-check and an aisle seat with an empty middle chair. Second flight delayed three hours. Lose some, win some, lose some. The Zags fared better, winning twice on their trip to New York. They claimed the NIT Season Tip-Off with a 73-66 victory over St. John’s.

Here’s my game story and others in the Daily News and Post.

Read on for my day-after post.

--Some of the final stats might suggest otherwise but Gonzaga’s defense, for the most part, was solid against an undersized, guard-oriented opponent. St. John’s is a handful to guard with virtually every player possessing the ability to penetrate and the athleticism to finish.

“It was hard for us big guys because we’re not used to guarding such small guards,” said the 6-10 Domas Sabonis, who often found himself matched up against a 6-3 or 6-4 wing.

The Zags limited the Red Storm to 41 points through 31 minutes but St. John’s put up 25 points in the closing nine minutes. Still, SJU made just 37% of its shots

On one second-half possession, Kyle Wiltjer swatted a driving D’Angelo Harrison’s shot near the rim. The guard moved outside and had his jumper blocked by Kyle Dranginis. Sir’Dominic Pointer tried to navigate around Przemek Karnowski but the best he could do was an errant, off-balance shot in the lane.

“We felt like we didn’t play to the best of our defensive capabilities against Georgia,” Byron Wesley said. “We were working on shrinking gaps. We knew they were going to make some tough shots – they’re athletic – but we did a pretty good job.”

--Few went with an offense/defense substitution pattern in the closing minutes, using Wiltjer on offense and Karnowski on defense. Few later inserted Dranginis on defense for Wiltjer, a more favorable matchup against SJU’s guards.

Dranginis made one of the game’s biggest defensive plays, stripping the ball from Rysheed Jordan to force a turnover with GU protecting a 69-66 lead.

“It was just instinct, trying to make a play,” Dranginis said. “He got me a little on the bounce. I didn’t expect him to drive, I think it was a 3-point game. I just tried to make it hard for him.”

--Gary Bell Jr. was frustrated and happy, at the same time.

He fouled out Wednesday and picked up four fouls Friday.

“That was the first time ever,” Bell said of fouling out. “I have no idea. I guess I’m too aggressive. I asked the refs what I should do out there. They said, ‘Keep your hands back.’ I tried that and got called for a foul every time.”

The irony, which wasn’t lost on a smiling Bell, is that coaches are always pushing Bell to be more aggressive, particularly at the offensive end, where he’s one of the better 3-point shooters in college basketball. Bell made 2 of 4 3s against St. John’s. He’s 14 of 30 for the season.

Bell made a pair of 3s to help Gonzaga open up a double-digit lead early in the second half. He also had a couple of baskets off dribble penetration.

“Just trying to stay aggressive, that’s pretty much what the coaches are asking for,” he said. “I have to find my spots and take my shots.”

--Bell and the Zags enjoyed using the Knicks’ locker room.

“I don’t know whose locker this is, but this one here (next to Bell’s) is Melo’s,” said Bell, referring to Carmelo Anthony. “We looked in there and saw some Jordans. That’s pretty cool.”

STATS OF NOTE

--Wesley scored 10 of Gonzaga’s last 15 points. He finished with 12 points.

-- Gonzaga is 73-14 in November under Few. The Zags are 24-1 over the last four Novembers, the lone loss to Dayton at the 2013 Maui Invitational.

--GU became the first team to shoot at least 50% against the Red Storm. The Zags hit 53%, 56.5 in the second half.

--Pangos is one 3-pointer from tying Matt Santangelo for third place in school history. Santangelo made 252 career 3s.

--Pangos made all 14 of his free throws in two tournament games, but Gonzaga was just 15 of 25 at the stripe overall. The Zags were 11 of 20 in the second half.

--St. John’s was roughly the same at the FT line – 14 of 23 overall, 10 of 18 in the second half.

--The Red Storm entered the game with 12 made 3-pointers, nine by D’Angelo Harrison. Harrison was just 2 of 9 from distance, but Phil Greene IV picked up the slack, going 4 of 9, including two in the final 2 minutes.

--GU committed 17 turnovers. Its previous high was 12. “We had some silly ones to start,” Few said. “We had to adjust to how quick-handed they were.”

QUOTEBOOK

Melson on making his debut at Madison Square Garden: “It felt amazing to play at Madison Square Garden with the history of the building. And we won a championship.”

Few, on whether Pangos makes his job easier: “I sleep a solid eight hours at night. I’ve been blessed with some good ones (point guards) but yeah, he’s a special guy.”

SJU’s Harrison on his charging foul with 15 seconds left: “My job was to play. The whistle didn’t go my way.”

Few: “Both games were kind of grinders. I thought this one might go up-and-down. When we made our run, we were able to get the break going but this was kind of played at a Big East kind of pace.”

Few on Sabonis: “He’s basically a starter.”

 

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