No place like home for GU

Gonzaga’s long-anticipated return to the McCarthey Athletic Center on Saturday seemed to have cured at least some of the problems that have dogged the Bulldogs in recent weeks.

Back among friends in the comfort of their home arena, the Zags rode Sean Mallon’s career-high 23 points and nine rebounds to a 97-62 rout of Loyola Marymount in the West Coast Conference basketball opener for both teams.

The lopsided win, witnessed by a sellout crowd of 6,000 that was comprised of precious few students because of holiday break, pushed the nation’s longest home-court winning streak to 46 games.

It also snapped the Bulldogs’ four-game losing skid – their longest since 1997, and jump-started the Zags’ run at a sixth consecutive regular-season WCC title.

But because of some continued sloppy ball-handling that resulted in 20 turnovers and another late first-half swoon that erased much of the good work his team had done earlier, GU coach Mark Few was far from satisfied.

“It was just a case of idiotic decisions and plays that we know better than to make,” Few said of the indifferent ball-handling that helped keep the game from getting out of hand much sooner than it did. “We’ve shown the ability to discern between right and wrong, but for some reason, for the last couple of games, we haven’t been able to do that – and it’s mostly with our guards.”

The backcourt duo of Derek Raivio and Jeremy Pargo combined for 33 points and 10 assists for GU (10-6). But the two guards also accounted for 10 turnovers, many of them of the unforced variety.

“Damn!” Pargo said after noticing the number “7” in the turnover column next to his name on the postgame statistics sheet. “I made a lot of stupid – and you can quote me on this – stupid-ass plays. Man, that’s gross.

“But at least we got the win.”

And the Zags needed this one badly, even if it came against an LMU team (8-9) that has struggled mightily since losing senior guard Brandon Worthy to a season-ending knee injury four games back.

“This win was huge,” said Raivio, who used 5-for-7 shooting from 3-point range to fuel his 22-point scoring performance. “When you lose how ever many we had in a row, the next day at practice, film sessions aren’t much fun.

“Young guys, and even some of us older guys, sometimes, get down on ourselves and maybe lose a little confidence. But this helps a lot.”

The Zags, after letting LMU loose on an 8-2 run to the close the first half, reeled off the first 14 points following intermission to build a 56-35 lead and coasted home from there, shooting 65.5 percent (19 of 29) and outscoring the Lions 55-27 in the second half.

Matthew Knight, after missing two games with a knee strain, led the visitors with 19 points and seven rebounds. But it wasn’t nearly enough to offset the career night turned in by Mallon, who made 9 of 10 field-goal tries in the 21 minutes he was on the floor.

“It didn’t surprise me a bit,” LMU coach Rodney Tention said of Mallon’s outburst. “He did everything we knew he was capable of doing. He drove the ball to the right, he played big in the post, and if you didn’t get to him in transition, he knocked down a jumper.

“He got the ball in the perfect operational zone for Sean Mallon, and you’ve got to credit him for doing that.”

Mallon, instead, opted to credit his teammates.

“It was partly me being more aggressive,” explained the 6-foot-9 senior forward. “But it was mainly my teammates getting me the ball in great position, where I only had to make one or two dribbles.”

When asked to put the win in perspective, Mallon added, “It feels great, and it’s nice to be back in the Pacific Northwest.

“But I think we can still come out a little better. There were chances in the first half to put the game away, but we let them hang around. It’s that killer instinct – when you’re up by 10, you have to want to go up by 20 – and we don’t have it all the time.

“There are still some things we need to work on, and that’s one of them. But overall, you can’t be too upset.”

The Bulldogs continue WCC play on Monday when they entertain Pepperdine in the McCarthey Center at 9 p.m.

Radio daze

According to a Gonzaga University spokesperson, it was “transmitter issues” that silenced KGA’s radio broadcast of the late stages of the Bulldogs 97-62 WCC win over Loyola Marymount on Saturday.

The problem, however, did not affect the broadcast of the game to Internet subscribers.

Gonzaga 97, LMU 62

Percentages: FG .349, FT .625. 3-Point Goals: 3-13, .231 (Grubb 1-1, Montgomery 1-2, Miller 1-5, Ziri 0-1, Deadwiler 0-1, Kanne 0-1, Counts 0-2). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocked Shots: 1 (Martin). Turnovers: 20 (Montgomery 5, Miller 3, Deric 2, Knight 2, Martin 2, Ziri 2, Deadwiler 2, Grubb, Craig). Steals: 11 (Miller 2, Martin 2, Ziri 2, Deadwiler 2, Knight, Counts, Grubb). Technical Fouls: None.

Percentages: FG .614, FT .760. 3-Point Goals: 8-17, .471 (Raivio 5-7, Mallon 1-1, Mast 1-2, Heytvelt 1-2, Altidor-Cespedes 0-1, Pendergraft 0-1, Bouldin 0-3). Team Rebounds: 0. Blocked Shots: 2 (Kuso, Foster). Turnovers: 20 (Pargo 6, Raivio 3, Altidor-Cespedes 2, Bouldin 2, Pendergraft 2, Burgess 2, Kuso, Mast, Team). Steals: 13 (Raivio 6, Pargo 5, Altidor-Cespedes, Bouldin). Technical Fouls: None.

Halftime–Gonzaga 42, Loyola Marymount 35. A–6,000.