Bulldogs Put It All Together Gu Whips Portland, Stays Atop Wcc

Few coaches like playing back-to-back games against the same opponent. But Dan Fitzgerald figures if you have such a blip in your schedule, you can sure ease the pain by winning the first one.

And that’s what Fitzgerald’s Gonzaga Bulldogs did Wednesday night by drilling Portland 79-67 in a West Coast Conference men’s basketball matchup at Martin Centre.

A crowd of 3,863, along with a regional Fox Sports Northwest television audience, saw the Bulldogs come as close as they have all season to putting together 40 minutes of solid basketball.

All five starters scored in double figures and aside from a minor letdown in the latter stages of the game, the Bulldogs avoided the kind of second-half swoons that have plagued them in recent weeks.

The result was a surprisingly easy win that allowed GU to raise its record to 13-8 overall and maintain a share of the WCC lead with San Francisco at 6-3. Portland dropped to 9-12 and 4-5, but the Pilots will get a quick shot at revenge when the two rivals square off again Saturday night in Portland.

“No question about it, this will make (the return trip) a lot easier to deal with,” Fitzgerald admitted. “It’s not the perfect schedule, but we’ve got to play it.”

Portland coach Rob Chavez said he couldn’t afford to concern himself with having to turn around and play the Bulldogs again.

“It really doesn’t matter how I feel about it,” he said. “I’ve got to worry about getting my team to come and just play a lot better basketball game than it did tonight - no matter who we’re playing.”

GU ambushed Portland early by throwing in nine of its first 12 shots and sprinting to first-half leads of 13-2, 19-9 and 37-22.

Freshman forward Axel Dench scored all 15 of his points in the first half and teammate Lorenzo Rollins added 10 of his team-high 18 as the Bulldogs piled up a comfortable 40-28 lead at by intermission.

Dench, a 6-foot-11 forward, was zeroed in from the opening tip, making his first five shots - including four medium-range jumpers and a tough floater in the lane.

Portland shot just 35.5 percent (11 of 31) from the floor and would have been in a much deeper hole had it not been for reserve Jason Franklin’s 3-for-5 shooting from 3-point range.

GU cooled slightly following its torrid start and finished the half at 59.3 percent (16 for 27). But the Bulldogs managed to keep their offensive consistency and defensive intensity at their first-half levels following the break and blew the Pilots away with a 26-12 run that spanned the first 10 minutes of the second half and produced a 62-40 lead.

Fitzgerald got another big effort from junior Bakari Hendrix, who scored 16 points, pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds and blocked two shots.

Portland, which got 19 points from Jimmie Rainwater and 17 from 6-11 center Greg Klosterman, cut into GU’s big lead in the final 5 minutes to make the final score deceivingly close.

“I thought we were an improved club tonight,” Fitzgerald said, adding that he was especially pleased with the way his team competed at the start of the second half. “We played a lot of basketball our way. We broke down late, but we still controlled the half.”

Chavez said he was unaware of any additional resolve on the part of the Bulldogs after intermission.

“I was still worried about the first half, so I didn’t notice,” he said.

PORTLAND (9-12) - Anderson 3-7 3-4 9, Holton 3-11 1-2 7, Klosterman 7-15 3-6 17, Rainwater 6-10 3-4 19, Stonehouse 1-6 0-0 2, Franklin 3-6 0-0 9, Palumbis 0-2 0-0 0, Jackson 2-2 0-2 4, Wiggins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-59 10-18 67.

GONZAGA (13-8) - Santangelo 4-7 2-4 12, Leasure 5-8 0-0 11, Hendrix 6-10 4-9 16, Rollins 9-12 0-1 18, Dench 6-12 3-3 15, Eaton 1-2 0-0 2, Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Nemeth 0-0 0-0 0, Griffin 2-3 1-2 5, Frahm 0-2 0-0 0, Nilson 0-0 0-0 0, Floyd 0-1 0-0 0, McKnight 0-0 0-0 0, Crider 0-0 0-0 0, Ball 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-59 10-19 79.

Halftime-Gonzaga 40, Portland 28. 3-Point goals-Portland 7-17 (Anderson 0-1, Rainwater 4-6, Stonehouse 0-3, Franklin 3-6), Gonzaga 3-8 (Santangelo 2-3, Leasure 1-1, Rollins 0-1, Williams 0-1, Frahm 0-1, Floyd 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Portland 30 (Jackson 7), Gonzaga 40 (Hendrix 10). Assists-Portland 9 (Holton 5), Gonzaga 20 (Leasure 6). Total fouls-Portland 16, Gonzaga 20. A-3,863.

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