Zags Give Opponents Their Cold

Here’s how the Gonzaga Bulldogs rid themselves of the mysterious affliction that caused a bout of sickly shooting last week…

By contaminating Boise State.

Bouncing out of the shooting slump that led to Saturday’s loss to Washington, the Bulldogs freed themselves of tight Boise State pressure long enough to dump the Broncos 83-68 Wednesday at the Martin Centre.

With five players scoring in double figures, GU shot 62.5 percent from the floor, 60 percent from behind the 3-point arc and 69.2 percent from the line.

The Broncos (3-8), meanwhile, were alarmingly inept inside, making only one of seven layup attempts in the second half.

“I was really pleased the way we kept working at it and didn’t let down,” GU coach Dan Fitzgerald said. “We were pretty workmanlike and we fought through their pressure reasonably well.”

Defensively, the Broncos climbed up inside the Bulldogs’ jerseys once they crossed midcourt, which thrust upon point guard Kyle Dixon the burden of keeping the offense in motion.”Dixon had a great game - showed great leadership,” Fitzgerald said.

Dixon, the Bulldogs’ lone All-West Coast Conference player last season, has been more involved in quarterbacking the attack thus far.

But Wednesday, he made six of nine field goals and eight of nine free throws for a team-high 21 points. He also handed out five assists and made three steals.

“They played really good D and we kind of struggled with it the first few minutes,” Dixon said. “It seemed harder to get into the offense, but once we got used to it, we played a lot better.”

Dixon said the Bulldogs - not surprisingly after the Washington loss - have spent a great deal of time in shooting practice.

“We worked on just relaxing and stepping up and taking the shot,” he said. “That’s what we weren’t doing.”

By playing zone “it’s easier to steal the ball,” said Dixon.

Those steals, almost invariably, quickly translated into GU points.

“One thing was when we created something defensively, we didn’t take advantage of it,” first-year Bronco coach Rod Jensen said. “We make a mistake and they get something out of it.

“Teams are feeling our insecurities and they get us on our heels,” Jensen said. “We’re not taking anything away from Gonzaga, but we can be our own worst enemy at times.”

Although the Broncos sustained the errant shooting that has caused them problems this season, forward Mike Tolman had no trouble, making six of 10 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 22 points.

GU, 7-3 heading into Friday’s non-conference game at Eastern Washington, benefited from 20 points from Paul Rogers, 14 points and 12 rebounds from Scott Snider, 13 points (3-for-6 3-pointers) from Jon Kinloch and 10 points from reserve guard Lorenzo Rollins.

But with students off on holiday break, an orderly crowd of 1,610 kept The Kennel fairly quiet during the game.

“Obviously, it’s easier when there’s a lot of fans loudly behind us,” Rogers said. “But we’re trying to get to the point where we can play well anywhere, any time, regardless of the conditions.”

Perhaps surprisingly, the undersized Broncos were out-rebounded by only two, as Phil Rodman pulled down seven boards.

Rodman (no green hair, no visible tattoos, no Madonna in-tow) is half-brother to the Chicago Bulls’ outrageous Dennis Rodman.

GU has now mounted a 10-game winning streak at home.

, DataTimes MEMO: Cut in Spokane edition.