Bulldogs find home after one month

They were 2-0 and untested. They were ranked No. 9. There wasn’t any snow on the ground.

An interesting month has transpired since the Gonzaga Bulldogs last played a home basketball game. They’ve been to Orlando, Fla., Indianapolis, Pullman and Phoenix. They went 5-1 during that stretch, climbing as high as No. 4 and currently checking in at seventh or eighth, depending on your poll preference.

They’re finally back home, one month after drubbing Idaho at the McCarthey Athletic Center. That’s a long time, but they won’t get much sympathy from the Texas Southern Tigers, tonight’s opponent.

Texas Southern is 0-9, 0-7 in road games, 0-2 on neutral courts. That’s right. The Tigers haven’t played at home yet, and won’t do so until Dec. 27 when Portland State visits Houston.

First-year coach Tony Harvey put together the schedule and hoped to mix in a home game or two, but things didn’t work out. Playing the likes of Cincinnati, Marquette, Washington, UTEP, Arkansas, Texas and Gonzaga helps in recruiting, Harvey said, “because the kids want to play against the guys they’re seeing on TV.”

And it helps with the balance sheet.

“The non-conference season, we have to generate economics and the great thing is I’m able to secure funding and help across our athletic department,” Harvey said. “And second, it’s getting the kids battle-tested for our league. Hopefully, we’ll be able to learn from these experiences and play up (in the Southwestern Athletic Conference) and not play to the competition.”

Four of the Tigers’ losses have been by seven or fewer points. Perhaps their most impressive effort was Tuesday when TSU trailed by one at halftime before falling to No. 5 Texas 88-72. The Tigers shot 57.7 percent from the field and won the boards 25-23. The highest shooting percentage against Texas this season had been Notre Dame’s 47.6.

“They’re certainly not afraid of anybody, after going into Austin (Texas) and playing like that,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said.

Good start for Goodson

True freshman guard Demetri “Meech” Goodson’s introduction to college basketball hasn’t been easy. Consider that he’s already faced Oklahoma State’s Byron Eaton, several talented Tennessee guards, Washington State’s Tyler Rochestie and Arizona’s Nic Wise.

“It’s a challenge to go out there and try to make things hard for them on the offensive end,” Goodson said. “And on the offensive end, I’m trying to make them play defense as well.”

Goodson is averaging 14.9 minutes, 3.3 points and 1.9 assists. Those numbers are comparable to Jeremy Pargo’s freshman campaign (17.1 minutes, 2.7 ppg, 2 apg).

“He competed very well (against Arizona),” Few said. “He played great defense on Wise and even battled (6-7 Chase) Budinger in the post. He did a nice job attacking the press and zone.”

Goodson shows no sign of being intimidated in games or practice.

“He goes against one of best point guards (Pargo) in the country every day, and he’s playing against Matt (Bouldin) and Steven (Gray),” forward Austin Daye said. “That’s preparing him well for the challenges he has ahead of him.”

Time crunch

Few pointed out several reasons why starting guard Micah Downs played just 3 minutes in the second half against Arizona.

“He was sick during the day (Sunday) and we didn’t feel like we could pull Josh (Heytvelt) out against (Arizona’s Jordan) Hill,” Few said. “In retrospect, we should have, because Josh just cannot play extended minutes like that. It just doesn’t work.”

Few added that Goodson played well, “so that was one of the other guard spots,” along with Pargo, Bouldin and Gray. Daye logged a career-high 36 minutes. Few has limited options at center with backup Robert Sacre out after re-injuring his foot.

“Not having Rob hurt us (against Arizona),” he said. “We tried Ira (Brown) and that didn’t work for us. We have to start developing Will (Foster) and see if he can function and help us or go with Micah or Austin.”

Neither Downs nor Daye has played the “5” this season. Downs is listed at 194 pounds, Daye 200.