Batista unleashed!

Gonzaga’s J.P. Batista, at the urging of his head coach, has started believing he’s J.P. Batista again.

That fact became obvious on Saturday when the Bulldogs’ broad-shouldered senior center, exhibiting a depth of self-confidence that has been lacking of late, erupted for a career-high 32 points and 15 rebounds to lead the eighth-ranked Zags past Saint Joseph’s 102-94 in a New Year’s Eve matinee that was witnessed by a sellout crowd of 6,000 at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Batista, a 6-foot-9, 269-pounder from Olinda, Brazil, muscled in 12 of his 13 field-goal attempts and made 8 of 10 free throws as GU (10-3) prepped for Saturday’s start of West Coast Conference play by tripping the Hawks (5-4) and running its home winning streak to 30 – the longest in the country following Washington’s double-overtime loss to Arizona in Seattle on Saturday.

Junior shooting guard Adam Morrison, the nation’s top Division-I scorer, finished with 25 points and four assists for the Bulldogs, and junior point guard Derek Raivio broke out of his recent shooting slump to add 19 points and three assists as the Zags staged one of their best offensive performances of the season.

“People need to realize that we beat an NCAA Tournament team tonight,” GU coach Mark Few said after watching his team shoot 57.4 percent (31 of 54) from the field and win the rebounding battle by a lopsided 33-23 margin to withstand Saint Joe’s McCarthey record-barrage of 15 3-pointers. “We were great on offense tonight.

“We got the ball where we needed it to go, we shot it well and we got to the free-throw line. We were very, very efficient on the offensive end.”

On a night when Morrison struggled to find open shots against Saint Joseph’s ever-changing defensive scheme, Batista proved to be the most efficient player on the floor, using a variety of shots to score almost at will on the low blocks.

“I felt good out there tonight,” he said. “The last few games, I have been rushing things a little, and Coach Few has really talked to me about shooting my shots on my terms.”

Few said he considers Batista to be “part of the heart and soul of this team” and the nation’s most efficient low-post scorer.

“But for whatever reason, he’s had a stretch here where he got rattled a little bit,” Few added. “I think he’s the best low-post player in the country, as far as scoring the basketball, and he needs to believe that too.

“And he needs to never waver from that belief.”

Saint Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli agreed that Batista was the difference in the game.

“We have to have a way of making sure that we take away a strength from an opponent,” he explained, “and tonight, their strength was Batista. We went in thinking we had the right way to play him, but it didn’t work out that way.”

Still, the Hawks – behind a balanced backcourt scoring attack that included 27 points from sophomore Abdulai Jalloh, 24 from senior Chet Stachitas and 13 from senior Dwayne Lee – managed to keep the favored Zags in sight until the final minute, when they made 11 of 12 free throws to put the game away.

They even took a late 79-78 lead on Pat Calathes’ 3-pointer with 6 minutes, 6 second left in the game.

“It was really a high-level game,” said Martelli, whose team shot 53.6 percent (30 of 56) from the field and made 15 of 32 tries from 3-point range. “But we’re disappointed with the outcome, as we should be. There’s no moral victory here. People pat you on the back in those situations when they don’t think you’re good enough. But my feeling, in watching film (of Gonzaga) was we were good enough.”

Martelli would certainly get no argument from Few, who admitted he had no concrete answer for the Hawks’ outside shooting.

“We tried everything,” Few said. “They have some great guards, and when you have great guards, you create a lot of problems. When you have three guys who can shoot it like that – as well as bounce it and pass it – that’s hard to guard.”

The Bulldogs did a better job of getting out on Saint Joe’s perimeter snipers in the second half, but still needed to knock down 27 of 31 second-half free throws to secure the win.

Two of those came with just 30 seconds left in the game when the Hawks, trailing 95-90, were whistled for a delay-of-game technical for failing to come out of their huddle after Lee picked up his fifth personal foul.

Morrison, who made only 5 of 15 basket tries, converted both foul shots to put GU up 97-90 and it was over.

GU opens WCC play on the road Saturday against Saint Mary’s.

Gonzaga 102, Saint Joseph’s 94

Percentages: FG .536, FT .864. 3-Point Goals: 15-32, .469 (Jalloh 5-9, Stachitas 5-10, Calathes 2-3, Lee 2-4, D.Mallon 1-1, Lashley 0-1, Ferguson 0-4). Team Rebounds: 1. Blocked Shots: 1 (Nivins). Turnovers: 13 (Stachitas 4, Lee 4, Jalloh 2, Calathes 2, D.Mallon). Steals: 4 (Jalloh, Nivins, Lee). Technical Fouls: Team.

Percentages: FG .574, FT .791. 3-Point Goals: 6-15, .400 (Raivio 3-4, Morrison 2-5, Pargo 1-1, S.Mallon 0-1, Altidor-Cespedes 0-4). Team Rebounds: 1. Blocked Shots: 5 (Pendergraft 2, Batista, S.Mallon, Gurganious). Turnovers: 8 (Batista 3, S.Mallon 2, Altidor-Cespedes, Gurganious, Pendergraft). Steals: 11 (Altidor-Cespedes 3, Pargo 3, Gurganious 2, Batista, Raivio, Pendergraft). Technical Fouls: None.

Halftime–Gonzaga 48, Saint Joseph’s 41. A–6,000.