GU wins by counterpunch
Aesthetically, it was a disaster.
But considering the casting, there was really no reason to expect Saturday’s West Coast Conference men’s basketball battle between Santa Clara and Gonzaga to resemble ballet. Not with two teams as physical and familiar with each other as these.
No, this was basketball at its crudest level. And 17th-ranked Gonzaga adapted quite well, blistering the Broncos 92-75 in a game that had the feel – and flow – of a street fight.
The Bulldogs (17-4 overall, 7-2 in the WCC) got 22 points each from Ronny Turiaf and Adam Morrison and double-doubles from both J.P. Batista and Derek Raivio in turning back the Broncos (12-12, 5-4) in front of a sellout crowd of 6,000 at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
Zags coach Mark Few, who picked up his 150th career victory, didn’t seem the least bit put off by the fact that the bruising contest was marred by 48 personal fouls, three technical fouls, 30 turnovers and a shrill symphony of officials’ whistles.
“When have we ever had a flow when Santa Clara plays Gonzaga?” Few asked, after watching his team post its 22nd consecutive home win and maintain its share of first place – alongside Saint Mary’s – in the WCC standings.
Rhetorical? You bet.
But still a fitting question, considering the way these two teams get after each other year after year. Saturday’s encounter did little to dress up the scruffy image of the series.
Santa Clara made its first shot and then missed its next 12 – several of which came from close range. Broncos coach Dick Davey was whistled for a technical foul 5 1/2 minutes into the game for commenting on an official’s call. Turiaf drew a technical after leveling SCU’s Travis Niesen with a forearm with 2 minutes left in the first half. The Broncos’ Doron Perkins was T’d early in the second half for reasons still not apparent.
“It seems like every time we play Santa Clara it’s that way,” said Raivio, GU’s sophomore point guard who finished with 19 points and 10 assists. “I don’t know if it’s cheap shots or not, but when you go into the post they belly bump you and stuff, and it seems like every time they call at least one technical on their side, and it leads into a technical on our side.
“It’s just a brawl out there.”
On this night, the Bulldogs won it, thanks to the inside muscle of Turiaf and Batista, whose 19 points and 15 rebounds gave him his third double-double as a Zag.
Turiaf, showing no ill effects from the two ankle sprains he suffered earlier in the year, powered his way to the basket for six field goals and made 10 of 14 free throws. Batista was his usual steady self, making 7 of 12 field goals and pulling down a career-high number of rebounds.
“They’re a load,” Davey said of GU’s starting big players. “We tried different things to slow them down a bit and I thought we did a reasonable job down there. But they were able to take advantage of us and get to areas, and they made a few tough ones, too.
“They’re both very unique. Turiaf, when he misses, is the first guy to get back after it. And Batista doesn’t miss too often.”
Neither, on this day, did Morrison, who made 7 of 13 field-goal attempts, including 4 of 5 3-pointers – three of which came during a 4-minute span of the second half when he scored 12 points in a 19-5 GU run that decided the issue.
“I thought they played about as good as I’ve seen them play,” Davey said of the Bulldogs, who shot 50 percent (28 of 56) from the field and won the rebounding battle by a lopsided 44-28 margin. “Now maybe we had a lot to do with it, but I thought they played pretty darn good basketball today.”
Davey was disappointed by his team’s poor shooting at the start of the game.
“We had a chance, I thought, early, to make a few shots that would have given us a chance to stay in the game,” he said. “We had four 2-footers or 4-footers, with a chance to make a couple of those and maybe hang in for a while and make it a more intriguing game.
“But, obviously, we weren’t able to do that.”
The Broncos were paced by senior point guard Kyle Bailey, who scored a game-high 25 points, 11 of which came on free throws. But Santa Clara couldn’t compete against the Zags inside.
“I thought we did a great job on the glass,” said Few, whose Bulldogs scored 15 second-chance points to just three for the Broncos. “Santa Clara is always a great rebounding team, because they’re so tough and physical. And I thought we really battled them.”
The Zags also welcomed the aggressiveness of Turiaf, who had eight rebounds and two blocked shots to go with his 22 points.
“Ronny was real aggressive again tonight,” said Raivio. “He knew the double-team was coming and he just kept attacking. And that second half, he was getting fouled and getting to the line, which was big for us.”
The Bulldogs, after playing three straight games at home, venture to the Los Angeles area this week to take on Pepperdine on Thursday and Loyola Marymount on Saturday.