Zags face high-up Lowhorn
GU tests defense against WCC’s leading scorer
Gonzaga, fresh from shutting down Santa Clara standout center John Bryant on Thursday, faces another sizable challenge against San Francisco’s Dior Lowhorn tonight.
The Dons’ 6-foot-7 junior forward led the West Coast Conference in scoring a year ago and he’s back in the top spot this season at 20.4 points per game. Lowhorn, a transfer from Texas Tech, matched USF and NBA legend Bill Russell as the fastest in school history to reach 1,000 career points when he struck for 22 points in a 78-60 loss to Portland on Thursday.
Lowhorn reached the 1,000-point mark in his 49th career game. Russell surpassed 1,000 career points in his 49th contest when he scored 24 points in a 62-50 victory against Colorado in a 1955 NCAA Championship semifinal.
Gonzaga limited Bryant to 12 points, five less than his average, in Thursday’s 95-53 victory. The Bulldogs have held their last three opponents to less than 37 percent shooting. Only four GU foes have shot better than 40 percent this season.
“That’s something we have to be able to hang our hats on,” Bulldogs coach Mark Few said. “We’re a jump-shooting team, and that’s not going to be there night in, night out. I think we kind of learned that the hard way, so we have to really depend on our defense and still keep trying to get scores in the paint and get ourselves to the free-throw line.”
That’s one of Lowhorn’s specialties. He’s attempted 104 free throws, second most in the WCC behind Diamon Simpson of Saint Mary’s (117). Lowhorn also has made 23 of 47 3-pointers (48.9 percent) while leading USF in scoring in 13 of 18 games.
The Dons (8-10, 0-3 WCC), under first-year head coach Rex Walters, won five of their first six games, but they’ve dropped six of their last seven. They’ve made just 38.5 percent of their shots in three double-digit conference losses.
Gonzaga (11-4, 2-0) has forced 33 turnovers in two WCC wins, converting those into 46 points.
“If we get out and pressure the ball and play good defense, we have a great chance of winning,” senior guard Jeremy Pargo said.