Phoenix Turn Gu Inside-Out Bulldogs Roll Over After Losing Ability To Rebound, Shoot

Gonzaga University’s men’s basketball team continued its calamitous pre-holiday plunge Wednesday night, losing to lowly Wisconsin-Green Bay 72-61 at Brown County Arena.

The upset defeat was the third straight for the Bulldogs (5-4), who trounced the Phoenix 85-58 in Martin Centre earlier this year. And it left second-year GU coach Mark Few thoroughly disgusted - particularly with his team’s effort.

“We just pretty much got outcompeted at every spot,” Few said, pointing to his team’s unfathomable 40-26 rebounding deficit as the main piece of evidence.

The Bulldogs got 22 points from Casey Calvary, but the senior forward made only 6 of 17 shots against a sagging Wisconsin-Green Bay defense that was geared to gum things up on the low block. No other GU player scored in double figures as the Bulldogs fired blanks from the perimeter most of the night and finished with their worst shooting performance (22 of 56) of the year.

“We had wide-open looks,” Few said, after watching his Zags drop three straight for the first time since the end of the 1996-97 season. “They just started dropping three or four guys around Casey in there and we went 5 for 25 from 3-point range. Somebody has to step up and knock down shots.

“We went through the whole lineup tonight, and nobody really could.”

GU also had a difficult time coming up with defensive stops against the deliberate Phoenix (3-7), who snapped a five-game losing streak despite a dramatic disadvantage in size, speed and athleticism.

Freshman Chris Sager led a quartet of double-figure scorers for Wisconsin-Green Bay with 19 points. Sophomore Mike King added 14, Paul Monfre chipped in 12 and Chancellor Collins, another sophomore, finished with 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds. The Phoenix closed the first half with a 13-2 run that produced a 38-27 lead at intermission. GU closed within 48-44 on a 3-pointer by Blake Stepp with 9:17 left in the game, but Sager punched in a putback basket and King scored four straight baskets to cap a 12-3 Phoenix run that settled the issue.

The Bulldogs, who don’t play again until Dec. 30 when they entertain Monmouth at Martin Centre, were once again without the services of injured point guard Dan Dickau, who is scheduled to have his broken finger X-rayed again this morning.

Few said he hopes to have Dickau available after the Christmas break. “But what happened tonight had nothing to do with Dan’s absence,” Few added. “He’s not going to make up a 40-26 deficit on the boards.”

Wis.-Green Bay 72, Gonzaga 61

Gonzaga (5-4) - Spink 4-5 0-0 8, Bankhead 1-6 1-2 4, Calvary 6-17 9-14 22, Stepp 3-9 0-0 9, Reason 2-3 1-1 5, Forbes 0-2 0-0 0, Hernandez 1-3 0-0 2, Tricco 2-4 1-2 5, Gourde 2-3 0-0 4, Voilette 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 22-56 12-19 61.

Wisconsin-Green Bay (4-7) - Shaw 1-6 1-2 4, King 7-9 0-0 14, Babcock 2-4 0-0 4, Monfre 2-4 7-8 12, Sager 6-12 4-4 19, Mueller 1-4 1-2 3, Blanks 0-1 0-0 0, Kraft 2-4 1-2 6, Scheidt 0-1 0-0 0, Collins 3-5 4-5 10, Hughes 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-51 18-23 72.

Halftime-Wisconsin-Green Bay 38, Gonzaga 27. 3-Point goals- Gonzaga 5-25 (Stepp 3-8, Calvary 1-4, Bankhead 1-6, Reason 0-1, Forbes 0-2, Tricco 0-2, Voilette 0-2), Wisconsin-Green Bay 6-18 (Sager 3-7, Monfre 1-1, Kraft 1-3, Shaw 1-5, Mueller 0-1, Blanks 0-1). Fouled out- None. Rebounds-Gonzaga 26 (Spink 6), Wisconsin-Green Bay 40 (Collins 9). Assists-Gonzaga 10 (Stepp 5), Wisconsin-Green Bay 11 (Monfre 7). Total fouls-Gonzaga 20, Wisconsin-Green Bay 15. A-3,109.