Zags face Toreros
Gonzaga coach Mark Few expects more of the same from San Diego tonight when the Toreros invade the McCarthey Athletic Center for their West Coast Conference men’s basketball rematch with his fifth-ranked Zags.
“I don’t know why they would change anything,” Few said of USD (16-9 overall, 6-6 in the WCC), which threw a major scare into the Zags (23-3, 12-0) in San Diego last month before losing 64-63 on a late 3-pointer by GU’s Erroll Knight. “They played us great down there, so I would think they’ll try the junk defenses again, and I imagine (Corey) Belser will try to stop Adam (Morrison) again.”
It was Belser who shouldered most of the responsibility for dealing with Morrison, the nation’s top scorer, in that first meeting. The 6-foot-6 senior forward responded by holding the Zags’ 6-8 junior to 16 points, his second-lowest total of the season.
Belser is expected to be matched up against Morrison again tonight, when the rematch tips off at 5.
The key, he explained, is trying to keep the ball out of Morrison’s hands.
“He’s a hard, hard, hard worker, and when he gets the ball and makes up his mind he’s going to the basket, he’s usually going to get there,” Belser said of Morrison following their first showdown.
“The biggest thing with any great player – and Adam Morrison is definitely a great player – is to limit his touches. Honestly, there’s not one thing that will work. You’ve just got to continue to mix it up and hope you can contest most of his shots – and hope he misses the ones you make difficult for him.”
Morrison comes in averaging 29.3 points per game for the WCC regular-season champions, who are within two victories of posting a 14-0 conference record for the second time in three seasons.
But Few has several other options on offense, as evidenced during Monday night’s 81-71 win at Pepperdine.
Sophomore guard Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespedes scored a career-high 17 points against the Waves, senior center J.P. Batista added 16 and junior guard Derek Raivio showed signs of breaking out of his recent scoring slump by throwing in 12.
It is on the defensive end of the floor, however, where Few expects his Bulldogs to face their biggest challenge.
The Toreros, despite having lost three of their last four games, remain one of the most productive teams in the WCC, boasting a balanced attack built around 6-10 senior center Nick Lewis (17.4 ppg) and junior guard Ross DeRogatis (12.4 ppg).
“They do a lot of good things on offense,” Few said. “They’ve got a nice inside-out combination in Lewis and DeRogatis, and Belser is shooting it better from the perimeter this year.
“They like to push the ball up the floor, so you’ve really got to concentrate on stopping their break.”
Gonzaga has won the last six games in the series, with San Diego’s last win having come in the title game of the 2003 WCC Tournament.