Say good Knight

As soon as Gonzaga coach Mark Few emerged from the Bulldogs’ locker room following Saturday night’s 75-59 West Coast Conference basketball win over San Diego, he was peppered with questions from the media about what J.P. Batista had done … and what Adam Morrison hadn’t.

He dutifully answered each inquiry.

But before the people who were shouldering the TV cameras could shut down their lights, Few got in a plug for Erroll Knight, the Zags’ senior forward who beat the Toreros with a late 3-pointers down in San Diego last month and then changed the rematch with the energy he brought to the McCarthey Athletic Center floor.

“Erroll Knight won both San Diego games for us, plain and simple,” Few said after watching his fifth-ranked Bulldogs (24-3, 13-0) delight most of those in another sellout crowd of 6,000 with their 15th consecutive win. “He came into this game and absolutely changed our team’s persona.”

It was Batista, the Zags’ 6-foot-9, 269-pound senior center, who did most of the offensive damage by muscling in a game-high 26 points to go with the 11 rebounds that gave him his 16th career double-double.

But it was Knight’s inspired play that rocked GU out of an its first-half funk and helped offset a rare unproductive night from Morrison, the nation’s leading Division-I scorer, who finished with a season-low 11 points.

“He just changed our whole team energy, effort and what we were doing out there, because we looked pretty lethargic out there for the first 24 minutes,” Few said of Knight, his 6-6 defensive standout, whose modest line of four points, three rebounds and four assists failed, miserably, to do justice to his contributions.”

The Bulldogs, who have already clinched the WCC regular-season title, were trailing the Toreros (6-10, 6-7) 43-36 early in the second half, before Knight helped fuel a game-turning 19-6 run by forcing a pair of USD turnovers, assisting on a fast-break bucket by Josh Heytvelt and scoring all four of his points – the first two of which came on a powerful putback dunk.

With Knight supplying some much needed defensive passion, the Zags held the Toreros to 21 second-half points.

“That’s probably one of the better defensive halves we’ve had all season,” Knight said. “Coach was like, ‘Just bring some energy,’ and when you listen to what Coach Few is talking about, it’s pretty simple. He knows the game.

“I went out there and got some turnovers and slowed everything down on offense. That’s what a senior is supposed to bring to the game.”

Batista brought some game, too, converting 11 of 14 field goals against another bruising defensive effort. After missing the last 51/2 minutes of the first half because of foul problems, the big Brazilian went 7 for 7 from the floor and scored 18 of his points in the second half.

“I thought we were incredibly efficient on the offensive end in the second half,” Few said. “We got the ball to J.P., and he really went to work. J.P. handles people fouling him and not getting it called, for the most part, as well as any 22-year-old can.”

Morrison, who came in averaging 29.3 points per game, made only 3 of 11 field goals and took only three shots in the second half. He was once again hounded unmercifully – and contentiously, at times – by USD’s Corey Belser, who held Morrison to 16 points in their first meeting.

“He can face-guard me all he wants,” Morrison said of Belser, a 6-6 senior wing. “We’ll just let J.P. keep shooting layups all game long. He’s a good defender, but there’s a big difference between being a good defender and actually face-guarding somebody.

“We used me as a decoy. We tried to go at them on my side every time, because he’s not to help, period.”

The Bulldogs close out their regular-season schedule at home against San Francisco on Monday evening. Tip-off is set for 6, and a win would give the Zags their second 14-0 WCC record in three seasons.

The Zags will also host the WCC Tournament, which begins Friday and will be capped March 6 by the championship game.

GU 75, San Diego 59

Percentages: FG .377, FT .500. 3-Point Goals: 6-21, .286 (Johnson 2-3, DeRogatis 2-9, Cohen 1-3, Lewis 1-3, Murdock 0-1, Belser 0-2). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 1 (Cohen). Turnovers: 12 (Lewis 3, Belser 2, Cohen, DeRogatis, Murdock, Johnson, Pomare, White, TEAM). Steals: 6 (DeRogatis 2, Murdock 2, Cohen, Pomare). Technical Fouls: None.

Percentages: FG .538, FT .813. 3-Point Goals: 6-12, .500 (Raivio 3-4, Pendergraft 2-2, Heytvelt 1-3, Morrison 0-1, Batista 0-1, Knight 0-1). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 6 (Batista 2, Heytvelt 2, Morrison, Mallon). Turnovers: 10 (Altidor-Cespedes 5, Batista 2, Raivio, Pargo, Knight). Steals: 6 (Batista 2, Raivio 2, Mallon, Altidor-Cespedes). Technical Fouls: None.

Halftime–San Diego 38, Gonzaga 36. A–6,000.