Zags sunk in Seattle
SEATTLE – For Gonzaga, the second half of the Battle in Seattle was more of a battle to keep from getting blown out.
The Zags managed to make it interesting at the end, trimming an 18-point deficit to five before No. 11 Tennessee pulled away for a convincing 82-72 men’s basketball victory in front of a pro-GU crowd of 15,141 at KeyArena.
Tennessee set the tone early. On its first possession, Chris Lofton missed a 3-pointer, Gonzaga hauled in the rebound and the outlet pass went to Jeremy Pargo. Just as Pargo caught the pass and began to turn up court, JaJuan Smith raced in, stripped the ball loose and went in for a layup.
The Volunteers (12-1) weren’t bashful from beyond the arc, launching 29 3-pointers. They made 10, including six in the second half as they stretched their lead to 64-46.
“They did a great job of taking the game to us on the offensive end and the defensive end,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “Much like the Oklahoma game, our defense in the second half kind of let us down. It’s hard to keep up when a team is scoring at that kind of clip.
“They’re an aggressive, athletic and opportunistic team. They take every opportunity you give them and they create a lot of opportunities.”
The Volunteers have to play that style because they’re undersized, coach Bruce Pearl said.
“We’re smaller at every position, but at the same time our athleticism was definitely on display,” Pearl said. “We were quick, and quick to the ball, and quick helping and rotating and pressuring. Gonzaga ran their sets away from the basket and if you give (Micah) Downs, or (Austin) Daye or (Matt) Bouldin or (David) Pendergraft any space they have the skills to destroy you.
“We just felt like we had to make it uncomfortable for them.”
Gonzaga (9-4) had 18 turnovers against Tennessee’s pressure man-to-man defense, including 12 in the first half that led to 19 Tennessee points and a 36-31 lead. For the game, the Volunteers produced 28 points off GU turnovers. That’s a few more points than their average (25.6), but a few less turnovers forced (22.7).
At times, Gonzaga struggled just to execute a safe inbounds pass. On several occasions, Gonzaga players broke open momentarily and began to rise for a shot only to have a quick-handed Volunteer defender strip the ball free.
It happened to Steven Gray as he prepared to launch a 3-pointer. “That was a senior going against a freshman and (Lofton) knowing the shot clock was going down,” said Gray, who gave GU a nice lift in the first half with two 3-pointers and eight points off the bench. “That’s the quickest team I’ve faced in my entire life.”
With 13 minutes left and GU within seven, Pargo drove the baseline and tried to fire a pass to the other side of the court only to have it stolen and converted into a dunk by J.P. Prince.
Tennessee’s pressure “disrupted us a bit, but I think we just got out of character and did some things that weren’t within ourselves,” Pargo said. “And we gave them some open looks in the second half and they took advantage. There was a stretch of that game where they were shooting 70 percent. When teams do that, you know you don’t deserve to win.”
Gonzaga trailed 15-5 before Gray shot them back into the game. His 3-pointer gave Gonzaga the lead at 17-15, but Tennessee responded with seven unanswered points. The Bulldogs were down 33-31 when Ramar Smith banked in an off-balance 3-pointer with 3 seconds left. GU inbounded the ball to Gray, who was immediately fouled by Lofton, but officials weren’t sure if the horn had sounded. After watching video replays, it was ruled the foul came after time expired.
The Zags went without a field goal for nearly four minutes of the second half before Josh Heytvelt, who had 12 points in 24 minutes in his second game back from a stress fracture, scored inside. Lofton sandwiched two 3-pointers around a 3 by JaJuan Smith as Tennessee extended its lead to 64-46.
GU battled back, closing within 10 on Pargo’s two free throws. Bouldin, who had a team-high 21 points despite playing on a tender ankle and calf, scored five quick points to trim Tennessee’s lead 76-71 with 1:15 left.
Prince, one of six Volunteers to reach double figures, made 4 of 6 free throws and Tennessee came up with a key rebound on one of his misses.
The Zags return home to face Utah (8-3) on Monday.
“The tough part about playing a schedule like this is if you don’t have your ‘A’ game you’re probably going to get beat,” Few said. “We just can’t let it mentally bring us down. We have another good team we’re playing in less than 48 hours. We just have to finish second halves off with better defense. That’s two in a row that have really hurt us.”