Assist: Morrison!
Game-winning baskets are nothing new for Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison. Game-winning assists, on the other hand …
Well, at least now he has one.
It came Monday night, when Morrison, the nation’s top scorer, uncharacteristically gave up the ball in the final seconds, setting up teammate Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespedes for a wide-open 3-pointer from the right wing that lifted the fifth-ranked Bulldogs to a thrilling 75-72 West Coast Conference win over San Francisco.
“My one and only,” Morrison proudly proclaimed of his game-winning assist, which gave the Zags (25-3 overall, 14-0 in the WCC) their 38th consecutive home win and secured the school’s second unbeaten league record in three years in a stirring regular-season finale witnessed by a sellout Senior Night crowd of 6,000 at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
“This is just unbelievably satisfying, draining – the whole gamut of emotions,” GU coach Mark Few said after watching his Bulldogs battle back from a lethargic first half and eight-point second-half deficit to turn back the persistent Dons (11-16, 7-7).
“If you go 14-0, I don’t care how you do it, it’s an amazing accomplishment, because it means you showed up and found a way. And that’s what this team has done all year – kind of find a way, figure out what’s working and get it done.”
Morrison finished the night with 34 points to lead all scorers. But it’s the pass he made to Altidor-Cespedes out of a double-team near the top of the key that most of those in attendance will remember.
The Bulldogs had called a timeout with just under 10 second left and the score tied at 70.
“We were going to do a high on-ball screen,” Morrison explained of the final play. “But we knew they’d trap me anyway, so we (screened) low. Coach had told our guys to spot up on the wing.”
Which is what Altidor-Cepedes did.
And the sophomore shooting guard was rewarded with a pass that set up his game-winning shot with just under two seconds left on the clock.
“I’ve got confidence in Pierre,” Morrison said. “He’s a helluva shooter. I see him every day, so I gave it up to him. I knew he was going to make it.”
Altidor-Cespedes said the shot felt good as soon as it left his hand.
“I was spotting up, just in case he gave it to me,” he explained. “I was just glad I made the shot – for everyone on the team, the coaches and the whole Gonzaga community.”
It also worked out nicely for the five seniors – J.P. Batista, Erroll Knight, Nathan Doudney, Colin Floyd and Stephen Gentry – who started the game and were able to celebrate a win in the last regular-season home game of their careers.
Batista, the Bulldogs’ 6-foot-9 Brazilian center, finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds to post the 17th double-double of his career, and Knight finished with six points, six rebounds and two blocks, one of which came against USF’s Armondo Surratt, who was on a breakaway and headed for an apparent go-ahead layin with just under 35 second left in the game.
Jerome Gumbs led the Dons in scoring with 20 points and was one of the two USF defenders stalking Morrison in the final seconds. The 6-4 senior wing said he was disappointed, but not surprised, to see Altidor-Cespedes knock down his game-winning shot.
“That’s what happens when you play against a top-five team,” he said. “Someone else steps up when their go-to guys gives it up.”
Gonzaga, despite being badly outplayed for the first 30 minutes of the game, was able to stay close at the foul line, where they made 18 of 23 free throws. USF, meanwhile, made only seven trips to the line, making three.
“We couldn’t get any free throws,” Dons coach Jessie Evans said. “We played them, I thought, evenly everywhere but on the free throw line.”
GU will now take a couple of days off before resuming preparations for the WCC tournament that starts Friday in McCarthey. The top-seeded Zags have a bye into Sunday’s semifinals, while fourth-seeded USF must return to Spokane to play a quarterfinal tournament game on Saturday.
GU officials announced before Monday’s game that a limited amount of $20 tickets for Friday’s two opening-round games will be made available to the general public this morning at 10. They can be purchased from any TicketsWest location or by calling 325-SEAT.
Plenty of tickets also remain for the WCC women’s tournament that starts Thursday.