Second Time Around Not Easy For Gu With Wednesday’S Blowout Behind Them, Pilots Push Bulldogs To Limit

Dan Monson emerged from Gonzaga University’s locker room Saturday night and squeezed off a couple of rounds of “I told-you-so’s” to reporters standing nearby.

“You see now why I was worried about this game?” GU’s second-year coach asked from behind a relieved smile.

Moments earlier his Bulldogs had stepped around a land mine by beating back a decidedly determined Portland basketball team 82-73 in front of a Chiles Center crowd of 3,946.

The win was the fifth straight for the Zags, who raised their overall record to 14-4 and remained unbeaten and alone atop the West Coast Conference standings at 4-0. It was not, however, as decisive as many expected - especially those who had watched GU blow the Pilots away 104-57 at home just three nights earlier.

Monson had been predicting a much closer rematch since the final buzzer sounded Wednesday evening, and Portland (7-9, 1-3) seemed bent on proving him right from the opening tip. Fueled by a friendly, vocal crowd and familiar surroundings, the Pilots turned up the intensity level, shot the ball well and pushed the Bulldogs to the final minutes before fading to their sixth loss in seven games.

Gonzaga, after opening a 48-33 halftime lead, failed to finish for one of the few times this year and found itself nursing a fragile 72-66 lead with just less than 2 minutes left. The Bulldogs proved they can still play when it matters, though, coming up with a couple of putback baskets and eight free throws to cool Portland’s upset hopes.

“I’m probably more proud tonight than I was on Wednesday,” Monson said. “We probably didn’t play as well, but I thought that was to Portland’s credit. They did a tremendous job of disrupting us in our offense tonight. But I was proud of our kids, because it was a character win. Things didn’t go right for them, and yet they hung in there.”

Richie Frahm and Jeremy Eaton each scored 20 points for GU, which also got 17 points and 11 rebounds from Casey Calvary. Quentin Hall added 14 as the Bulldogs, who shot 54.5 percent from the field, went an uncharacteristic 0 for 3 from 3-point range in the second half.

“A lot that was because we were tentative,” Monson said. “And we also didn’t nearly have the transition we had (on Wedensday.) There was a stretch there where we got a couple of stops and a couple of transitions, but other than that, our break was nonexistent.”

Most of GU’s offensive woes resulted from Portland’s second-half defensive aggression and denial tactics that challenged even the simplest of passes. The Pilots came up with nine steals and scored 22 points off turnovers to help pad their 51.9 percent shooting.

“I thought we played a lot better tonight, obviously, than we did Wednesday,” Portland coach Rob Chavez said. “And our kids competed a lot better. If we hadn’t turned the ball over so much (11 times) in the first half, we might have had a better chance to come back.”

The Pilots, led by Jason Franklin’s 14 points, finished with five players in double figures.

“They came out about twice as aggressive as they were in Spokane,” said Calvary, GU’s sophomore forward, who had five dunks. “I think it’s because their crowd gets into it a little bit. It’s their gym and they’re comfortable.”

Still, the Bulldogs found an answer in the closing minutes in the inside strength of Calvary and Eaton, who combined to score 12 of GU’s final 22 points.

“I thought our two inside guys were the difference,” Monson said. “Jeremy and Casey both came to play and did a great job of rebounding the ball, changing shots in there and getting second-effort points.”

GU travels to the Bay Area later this week to take on San Francisco (Friday night) and Santa Clara (Saturday).

Gonzaga 82, Portland 73

Gonzaga (14-4, 4-0) - Frahm 7-13 4-6 20, Calvary 7-9 2-3 17, Eaton 8-9 4-4 20, Hall 5-7 2-2 14, Santangelo 1-7 3-4 6, Floyd 1-4 0-0 2, Leasure 0-1 0-0 0, Spink 0-0 0-0 0, Nilson 1-2 0-0 2, Dench 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 30-55 16-21 82.

Portland (7-9, 1-3) - Collins 4-6 3-4 12, Rainwater 4-10 2-4 13, Neboh 1-4 0-0 2, Andrews 3-5 2-2 10, Franklin 7-11 0-0 14, Dejworek 3-6 2-6 8, Sandrin 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 5-8 0-0 12, Jackson 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 27-52 11-18 73.

Halftime-Gonzaga 48, Portland 33. 3-Point goals-Gonzaga 6-11 (Frahm 2-3, Cavalry 1-2, Hall 2-3, Santangelo 1-1, Floyd 0-1, Leasure 0-1), Portland 8-19 (Collins 1-2, Rainwater 3-6, Andrews 2-2, Franklin 0-3, Dejworek 0-1, Sandrin 0-1, Jones 2-4). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Gonzaga 35 (Calvary 11), Portland 23 (Franklin 4). Assists- Gonzaga 15 (Santangelo 6), Portland 19 (Rainwater, Andrews 5). Total fouls-Gonzaga 15, Portland 18. A-3,946.