Zags face tough USD in semifinal
No college basketball coach likes playing three games in three nights. But come conference tournament time, it certainly beats the alternative.
Which is why San Diego’s Brad Holland said his team was “ecstatic” about earning the chance to play a third game in the West Coast Conference tournament, even though it means facing regular-season league champion Gonzaga in today’s first of two semifinals which tips off at 5 in the Bulldog’s McCarthey Athletic Center.
Following Saturday night’s 62-59 quarterfinal win over San Francisco, Holland said he couldn’t be happier with the way his fifth-seeded Toreros (18-11) have responded in the tournament after closing the regular season with four straight losses.
“You feel like you’ve got a new beginning when you go to the conference tournament, and our attitude has certainly been that,” Holland explained. “We’ve done an outstanding job to win two straight games to earn the right to play Gonzaga, and we ARE excited.”
This will mark the third meeting of the year between the Toreros and the fifth-ranked Bulldogs (25-3), who closed the regular season with 16 consecutive wins and ran the table against WCC opponents. The Zags have won both, but struggled mightily before putting USD away in San Diego, 64-63, on Erroll Knight’s late 3-pointer.
The Toreros lost the rematch 75-59, but still held up well against GU’s polished offensive attack that is led by junior wing Adam Morrison, who is averaging a nation’s-best 28.8 points per game, and senior center J.P. Batista, who averaged 19.5 points and a team-high 9.3 rebounds during the regular season.
Morrison scored only 16 and 11 points in the first two games against USD, but Batista responded with a combined 42 points and 22 rebounds.
“J.P. has had his way with us,” Holland said, “and we need to do a better job on him. But Gonzaga reminds you of their other teams, because of their balance. They always have guys who can score from the perimeter, and they always have a pretty good inside attack.
“And when you’re balanced like that, you’re very difficult to guard.”
The Toreros have been led offensively all season long by 6-foot-10 all-conference forward Nick Lewis, who averaged 17.5 points during the regular season. But they have also picked up valuable contributions along the way from junior guard Ross DeRogatis and senior defensive whiz Corey Belser, who are both averaging just under 12 points per game.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few said early in the season that he felt the Toreros were as talented as any team in the league. But, while he hasn’t changed his opinion on that matter, he indicated more concern over how his team will respond to playing at home after earning a bye through the first two rounds of the tournament.
As for hosting the tournament for the first time, Few added, “It should have been here a long time ago, quite frankly. But it’ll be a different dynamic on Sunday. In the past, our guys have been so agitated about having to go to somebody else’s court after winning the league; it served as a great motivator.”