Nobody blames Turiaf except Turiaf
COLUMBIA, Mo. – On a night when their senior leader simply didn’t have it, the Gonzaga Bulldogs failed – for one of the few times in recent memory – to find someone else willing to take over the game.
The result?
With co-captain Ronny Turiaf shooting a woeful 2 for 15 from the field, misfiring on five of seven free throws – including two with just 8.4 seconds left – and missing badly on an off-balance 8-foot-runner that could have tied the game and forced overtime, the 12th-ranked Zags fell to Missouri 63-61 in front of a record crowd of 14,675 at Mizzou Arena.
The loss, coming off Tuesday night’s high-energy upset of Oklahoma State in the All-College Classic at Oklahoma City, snapped a seven-game GU winning streak. According to junior center J.P. Batista, who led the Bulldogs with 17 points and 10 rebounds, the defeat “felt horrible.”
But no one on the team blamed Turiaf for the loss – except Turiaf.
“I don’t know, I don’t know,” the 6-foot-10 inch forward said when asked about his performance. “I don’t think (Missouri) did anything special. I just missed some shots and let my team down tonight.”
Other GU players were much more forgiving, especially considering Turiaf was playing with a sprained right ankle he injured during Christmas Day practice while still nursing the left ankle he sprained against Washington State on Dec. 7.
“He’s obviously one of the best players in America, and people key on him,” sophomore guard Adam Morrison said of Turiaf, who came into the game averaging 19.1 points. “But he’s doing fine. It’s tough to play injured, especially with two (bad) ankles.
“If you don’t have everything in your tank, especially in a game like this, it’s tough. It’s hard to watch what he’s going through, but I still think he’s doing a great job of playing injured, playing through the pain and still delivering for us. And tonight, all of us didn’t play well – not just Ronny, but the whole team.”
Added sophomore point guard Derek Raivio: “It wasn’t his night tonight.” Bulldogs coach Mark Few said Turiaf might have played tired, as well as hurt.
“He hasn’t had many reps in practice since the Washington State game,” he explained, “so it’s hard for him. But we had numerous people not play very well, so it’s not him alone.”
Extreme trash talking
Gonzaga’s Morrison and Missouri’s Jimmy McKinney had to be pulled apart following the game after going chest-to-chest in what appeared to be a heated argument.
Morrison, who was dressed down by Few for getting involved, said McKinney started talking trash to him and then stuck a finger in his face.
“He said a few choice words I can’t say in the paper,” Morrison explained. “He was excited they won and I take my hat off to them. But at the same time, you have to be respectful. They won, we lost – let’s leave it at that.”
McKinney said all he did was talk trash, but when asked by a reporter about the finger he obviously shoved in Morrison’s face, the 6-foot-3 junior forward raised his right finger and then slapped it with his left hand.
McKinney said he was pulled away by teammate Linas Kleiza who told him, “We don’t have to fight. We won.”
Road weary
The Bulldogs, who flew to Kansas City following Tuesday night’s upset win over Oklahoma State in Oklahoma City and then bussed to Columbia, appeared a bit sluggish from the tipoff.
But Few refused to use his team’s difficult travel schedule as an excuse for how they played against Missouri.
“That’s life on the road,” he said. “The key to winning on the road is to come out and play harder than the home team, and we weren’t playing harder than the home team.”