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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Zags’ magic number for title is two

Gonzaga University earned at least the No. 2 seed and a bye into the semifinals of next month’s West Coast Conference men’s basketball tournament by knocking off San Diego 90-73 Thursday night.

But it meant little to the 13th-ranked Bulldogs, who still have some unfinished business to address.

“The big thing for us is winning the league championship,” coach Mark Few said after Thursday’s victory, which was the seventh straight for the Zags (20-4 overall, 10-2 in the WCC) and reduced their magic number for winning a fifth-consecutive regular-season WCC title to two. “We don’t really think about the whole seeding of the tournament deal.

“The big thing for us is to win the league championship and get our resume set for the NCAA Tournament. Those are our two biggest priorities.”

The Bulldogs can earn at least a share of the WCC title this afternoon by beating San Francisco (14-10, 5-6). The Dons, fresh off a 58-56 road win over Portland on Thursday, invade GU’s McCarthey Athletic Center for a WCC rematch that tips off at 3.

The game, which is sold out, will be televised regionally on ABC. And it will provide the streaking Zags with a chance to avenge an earlier 73-70 loss at San Francisco.

“It’s huge,” Few said of his team’s chance to clinch a share of the WCC title in front of another sellout crowd of 6,000. “But we obviously have our work cut out for us. San Francisco got us down there, so we’re going to have to play a lot better than we did the first time.”

In that first meeting, the Dons, under first-year coach Jessie Evans, slapped the Bulldogs early and often, racing to a 42-27 halftime lead. GU shot only 41.3 percent and couldn’t find a defensive answer for USF’s Jerome Gumbs, who finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

In addition, the Dons got 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists from senior guard and WCC scoring leader John Cox, who is averaging just over 20 points a game. Few said he is also concerned with matching up against Tyrone Riley, USF’s 6-foot-4 junior forward, who is averaging almost 15 points and nine rebounds.

“They’re a tough matchup because they have a couple of very, very talented individuals in Cox and Riley. And then Gumbs really hurt us down there. We’ve got to do a better job on him than we did last time.”

It will help having defensive stopper Erroll Knight, who missed the first USF game with an ankle sprain, back in the lineup. But according to Few, the Bulldogs need to shore up more than just their defense.

“We didn’t play well down there,” he admitted, “and it ended up being in pretty much every area of the game. We have to rebound better this time, defend better and play offense better. It’s a big challenge, but hopefully, we’ll be up for it.”

Gonzaga could clinch the regular-season WCC title outright today, provided they win and second-place Saint Mary’s (21-7, 8-3) loses at home against Pepperdine. The Bulldogs close their WCC schedule at Portland next Thursday before capping the regular season with a 6 p.m., non-conference, Senior Night home game against Northern Colorado on Feb. 28.