Zags Perform Like Champs Gonzaga Gains Wcc Title Game

Seldom has more been made of a second chance.

Gonzaga University, just a day removed from a hellish opening-round scare against lowly Loyola Marymount, showed the effort, poise and productivity of a champion Sunday evening, dismantling San Diego 74-59 in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference men’s basketball tournament at Toso Pavilion.

Bakari Hendrix scored 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds and Matt Santangelo added 21 points and nine assists as the top-seeded Bulldogs (23-8) moved within a victory of its second NCAA tournament appearance.

The regular-season WCC champions take on San Francisco, an 85-83 winner over Santa Clara in Sunday’s other semifinal, in the title game tonight with the league’s automatic NCAA berth at stake.

Gonzaga beat the Dons (18-10) twice during the regular season, winning 76-72 at home and 96-85 on the road. USF is the league’s hottest team, however, having won its last six games. It will be the first time the schools have met in the 12-year history of the tournament.

The Bulldogs last went to the NCAA tourney in 1995, and San Diego coach Brad Holland likes their chances of going again.

“We haven’t faced a better offensive club, outside of Stanford, this year,” Holland said, after watching his 7th-seeded Toreros (14-14) lose to GU for the second time in three meetings. “I think what Loyola did, is they awakened a sleeping giant.

”(The Bulldogs) seem to be really playing well and should be the favorites to win this thing.”

This was certainly a more-inspired Gonzaga team than the one that had to erase a 17-point second-half deficit and rely on a last-second 3-pointer from Santangelo to sneak past last-place LMU in overtime.

The Bulldogs chomped on USD from the opening tip, fueling their fast break with a defensive intensity that never surfaced in their first-round escape.

Hendrix scored 12 of GU’s first 26 points and Santangelo accounted for the last seven of the opening half as the Bulldogs sprinted to a 44-23 lead at intermission.

And when Santangelo hit the Toreros with two unanswered buckets, including a 3-pointer, at the start of the second half, it was over.

“That first half was as good a defense as we’ve played in a while,” GU coach Dan Monson said after his team’s school-record 23rd win. “We acted like we wanted to win a championship tonight. We weren’t afraid to play like we were the other night.

“We got a second chance yesterday and we made the most of it.” Neither Hendrix nor Santangelo would admit, however, that Saturday’s apathy had anything to do with Sunday’s passion.

“It’s irrelevant what you’ve done before,” Santangelo said.

“We knew we got a break yesterday,” added Hendrix, “but yesterday is yesterday. We knew we had to come out and play tonight.”

The Bulldogs shot 49.2 percent from the field, while limiting San Diego to 20-for-58 shooting. They held the Toreros without a field goal during one 10-minute stretch of the first half and put together runs of 12 and 11 points prior to intermission.

GU also received another great effort from its bench, which contributed 24 points. Quentin Hall scored eight and freshman Casey Calvary added seven, along with eight rebounds. “We knew from the beginning of the game that they were going to come out hard,” said San Diego’s Brian Miles, who finished with 14 points. “We had hoped to match that intensity, but we didn’t do it.”

Despite the lopsided score, Hendrix played 34 minutes and Santangelo 31. But neither figured that fatigue would be factor tonight when the two teams play their third games in as many days.

“It’s all adrenaline at this point,” Hendrix said. “We’re in the finals. We conditioned and worked hard all year for this moment.

“It’s no time to be tired.” Monson thinks his team deserves an NCAA berth regardless of tonight’s outcome.

“These kids have done everything asked of them to make it into the tournament,” he said. “We had a tough non-conference schedule and we won our league outright.

“But we’ve been a team focused on trying to control our own destiny, and we know that if we win (tonight), we’re in.”

Gonzaga 74, San Diego 59

San Diego (14-14)- Williams 7-16 5-5 20, Obasohan 2-12 3-4 7, Miles 5-13 2-2 14, Jacobsen 2-8 2-3 7, Smith 1-1 2-4 4, Brewer 0-0 0-0 0, Blackmon 1-3 0-3 2, White 1-3 1-2 3, Knoll 0-1 0-0 0, Luke 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 20-58 15-23 59.

Gonzaga (23-8)- Leasure 1-3 0-0 2, Dench 1-1 0-0 2, Hendrix 9-18 4-5 22, Santangelo 8-13 2-2 21, Frahm 1-8 0-0 3, Spink 0-0 0-0 0, Crider 0-0 0-0 0, Nilson 2-4 0-0 4, Hall 3-6 0-0 8, Calvary 3-5 1-3 7, Floyd 0-0 1-2 1, Griffin 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 30-61 8-12 74.

Halftime-Gonzaga 44, San Diego 23. 3-Point goals- San Diego 4-17 (Miles 2-4, Williams 1-2, Jacobsen 1-2, Obasohan 0-7), Gonzaga 6-15 (Santangelo 3-6, Hall 2-3, Frahm 1-3, Hendrix 0-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds- San Diego 35 (Williams, Jacobsen 8), Gonzaga 42 (Hendrix 10). Assists-San Diego 14 (Jacobsen 5), Gonzaga 18 (Santangelo 9). Total fouls-San Diego 18, Gonzaga 20. Attendance-4,903.

USF 85, Santa Clara 83

Jamal Cobbs sank two free throws with 6 seconds left to give the Dons their victory over the host Broncos in the other semifinal.

Santa Clara’s Craig Johnson, who had 19 points, hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 83 with 13 seconds left.

Brian Jones, who scored 17 points, missed a running jumper at the buzzer for Santa Clara (18-10).

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: WCC tournament All games at Santa Clara, Calif. Saturday’s results USF 83, St. Mary’s 66 Gonzaga 79, Loyola 78 (OT) San Diego 56, Pepperdine 54 Santa Clara 74, Portland 53 Sunday’s results Gonzaga 74, San Diego 59 USF 85, Santa Clara 83 Tonight’s final Gonzaga vs. San Francisco, 9 p.m., ESPN