Hawaiian punch

LAHAINA, Hawaii – Any Gonzaga University men’s basketball fans still holding out hope that Adam Morrison might return for his senior year of college next fall might want to consider giving up the dream.

Any lingering doubts about whether the Bulldogs’ 6-foot-8 offensive wonder might be ready to play at the next level vanished Tuesday afternoon when Morrison scored a career-high and tournament-record 43 points in leading the eighth-ranked Zags to a stirring 109-106 triple-overtime win over 12th-ranked Michigan State in the semifinals of the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational.

With several NBA scouts and Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak settled in among the 2,400 who again packed the Lahaina Civic Center, Morrison went off in a big way, knocking down 14 of 28 field-goal attempts – including four 3-pointers – and 11 of 12 free throws.

His gaudy point total topped his previous career best of 30, set last season against Saint Mary’s, and propelled the Bulldogs (3-0) into tonight’s championship game against third-ranked Connecticut (3-0), a 79-70 winner over 10th-ranked Arizona in the late semifinal.

The title game tips off at 7 p.m. (PST), and it seems fitting to wonder how much the Zags will have left in the way of energy following their physically draining win over MSU (1-2) in a bruising game that often resembled a street fight.

Afterward, GU coach Mark Few compared its intensity and entertainment value to that of the Bulldogs’ 96-95 double-overtime loss to Arizona in the second round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament in Salt Lake City.

“Obviously, that was one of the greatest game I’ve, personally, ever been involved in,” Few said of the win over MSU. “It eerily reminded me of the Arizona game … we just had a much happier ending.”

Not lost to either coach amid all the excitement generated by the individual performances of Morrison and Michigan State’s Maurice Ager, who made seven clutch 3-pointers and finished with 36 points, was the way players from both teams executed in a seemingly endless series of end-of-game situations.

“I thought it was one of the best basketball games,” said a disappointed, but gracious Spartans coach Tom Izzo. “(The) free throws made, big shots, plays out of timeouts – just unbelievable, time after time.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game where we’ve had to make so many (play) calls instead of just running our motion offense,” added Few. “We really needed to direct the ball and score, because each possession was so critical there for about the last 20 minutes.”

Fittingly, the game was not decided until the final 4 seconds when GU’s Derek Raivio, who finished with 26 points, made the last two of the Bulldogs’ school-record 27 straight free throws.

Even then, the Spartans almost managed to launch one last desperation 3-pointer – such as the buzzer-beater Ager made over Morrison’s outstretched arm at the end of regulation to force the first overtime.

But the shot never materialized as MSU’s Shannon Brown got tied up with a couple of Zags as time expired.

Ager’s shot at the end of regulation, which he made on the lean after spinning left to evade a defender, had all the markings of an emotion-sapper for the Zags.

“I’m just so proud of my guys for battling through all of that,” Few said. “The hardest thing to (overcome) is when you think you have the game won in regulation and they hit a great shot to send it (into overtime).

“It really drops the energy down, but our guys stuck with it and stuck with – kept sawing wood and sawing wood, and found a way to dig it out.”

Morrison, when asked how he felt after Ager made the shot to knot the game at 80 at the end of regulation, said “Angry – but we also won the game.”

Morrison added that he had played against Ager a few times during summer tournament.

“So I know he’s a great player and he can make those shots,” he explained. “It was just one of those deals where you put your hand out and he makes a play. That was the beauty of this game tonight – players were making plays on both ends. They made plays and we made plays. The refs didn’t decide it, the players decided it.”

But it certainly took them a long time – more than 3 hours, in fact.

The first overtime ended with the score tied at 91 after Morrison and David Pendergraft failed to convert in the closing seconds.

Morrison had his shot deflected to Pendergraft, who shot a short, but highly contested, jumper in the lane that bounced off the front of the rim.

With the score tied again at 97, the Zags had a great chance to win it near the end of the second extra period, but Raivio’s wide-open 3 from the top of the key also caromed off the front of the rim.

MSU, trailing 107-106, blew a chance to really put the heat on the Zags near the end of the third OT when freshman forward Goran Suton clanked a wide-open lay-in, forcing the Spartans to foul Raivio.

In the end, however, Morrison simply refused to let the Zags lose.

“He did an amazing job,” Few said. “He hit some big shots. We’ve all seen him hit those before, and I don’t think it surprised anybody. But how he did it – and who he did it against, was probably the most phenomenal thing.”

Senior center J.P. Batista finished with 22 points and a team-high 13 rebounds for Gonzaga.

Josh Heytvelt, a redshirt freshman forward playing in only his second college game, added nine points and four boards for GU.

Gonzaga 109, Mich. St. 106 (3OT)

Percentages: FG .427, FT .897. 3-Point Goals: 10-34, .294 (Ager 7-17, Brown 3-11, Walton 0-1, Neitzel 0-5). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 2 (Davis, Ager). Turnovers: 15 (Neitzel 4, Suton 3, Naymick 2, Davis 2, Brown 2, Ager, Walton). Steals: 9 (Davis 3, Ager 2, Brown, Neitzel, Walton, Suton). Technical Fouls: None.

Percentages: FG .462, FT .964. 3-Point Goals: 10-23, .435 (Morrison 4-8, Raivio 4-8, Heytvelt 1-2, Pargo 1-3, Mallon 0-1, Pendergraft 0-1). Team Rebounds: 1. Blocked Shots: 1 (Heytvelt). Turnovers: 17 (Pargo 4, Batista 3, Morrison 2, Raivio 2, Heytvelt 2, Mallon, Altidor-Cespedes, Pendergraft, Diallo). Steals: 6 (Morrison 2, Pargo 2, Altidor-Cespedes, Raivio). Technical Fouls: None.

Halftime–Michigan State 40, Gonzaga 37. Regulation–Michigan State 80, Gonzaga 80. First overtime–Michigan State 91, Gonzaga 91. Second overtime–Michigan State 97, Gonzaga 97. A–2,400.