Day after Notre Dame

Good morning. You know the routine. First, the links: S-R recap, Chicago Tribune gamer and South Bend Tribune gamer and column .

Read on for my day after Notre Dame post.

—I received a question on Twitter about the last time Gonzaga was sub-.500 (presuming he meant this late into the season). If my scan of the media guide is correct, that would be mid February of the 1990-91 season. GU was 12-13 before winning two of its last three to finish 14-14.

Gonzaga hasn’t had a losing mark under Few other than being 0-1 after losing the ’03-04 opener to Saint Joseph ’s and the ’01-02 opener to Illinois . Gonzaga was 5-4 and 6-5 during the 2001 season under Few.

—Many GU followers were wondering if the Zags would shake up the lineup/rotation after dropping their last two games by a combined 34 points.

Mathis Mönninghoff returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench the previous three games. He made one 3 and finished with three points in 13 minutes. Manny Arop came off the bench to score a career-best 16 points in 32 minutes. Arop got the start in the second half. Sam Dower got a few minutes fairly early, but he finished with just two points in 7 minutes. Marquise Carter got extended time (14 minutes) and finished with five points, one steal and one assist.

Gonzaga relied on several of its most experienced players (Sacre, Gray, Harris and Arop). Sacre played 36 minutes and scored 16 points. Gray had 18 points, Harris 19 and Arop 16. The four combined for 69 of the team’s 79 points. Junior Demetri Goodson didn’t score in 25 minutes and sophomore Kelly Olynyk didn’t score in 11 minutes.

Arop, by the way, made 4 of 5 3-pointers, boosting his career totals to 15 of 32 (47 percent) beyond the arc.

—Notre Dame is known for frequent trips to the free-throw line. Even before Gonzaga was forced to foul late in the contest, the Irish had doubled Gonzaga’s free throw attempts. Notre Dame finished 24 of 36, GU 10 of 12.

Entering the game, Notre Dame had attempted 260 free throws compared to its opponents’ 143 – and that’s without a dominating interior presence.

Prior to facing Notre Dame, Gonzaga had attempted 25 more free throws than its opponents. GU’s 12 free throws Saturday was a season low.

—There were a couple of times when it appeared GU was headed for another double-digit loss. The Zags fell behind by nine in the first half and by 14 in the second. Gonzaga rallied late, but fell short.

Earlier this week, I came across my article from last year’s GU-WSU game. I had a line in there that Gonzaga rallied from a double-digit deficit for the third time while knocking off the Cougars – and that was just seven games into the 2010 season. I went back further, to the GU-Tennessee game in Knoxville two seasons ago. Gonzaga entered with a three-game losing streak, but came back from 15 down to win in overtime, ending the Vols’ 37-game home-court winning streak in front of 22,326 at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Gonzaga hasn’t been able to duplicate those comeback victories this season. The Zags rallied from 10 down against San Diego State , but lost by 3. They were down by 22 in the first half against Kansas State , closed within six before the Wildcats pulled away. Illinois put GU in a 20-point hole in the second half and the Zags could get no closer than 10 the rest of the way. Washington State led by 19 with roughly 7 minutes left in the first half. Gonzaga narrowed the deficit to six at half but was blown out in the second half.

STATS OF NOTE

—Harris had four assists, his season high. His career best was five vs. Memphis last year.

—Sacre did not attempt a free throw for the first time in a game this season. He attempted just two free throws against Marquette . His season high was 13 vs. Kansas State .

—It was the third straight game that Gray didn’t lead Gonzaga in scoring. The senior guard led GU in points in four of the first five games this season.

—Goodson didn’t score, but he did have four assists and no turnovers. Gray had eight assists and one turnover in 37 minutes.

—GU’s last three opponents from the 3-point line: Illinois 12 of 23, WSU 11 of 21, Notre Dame 11 of 20. Combined: 34 of 64.

—Gonzaga had 20 assists, the third time with at least 20. The other two: EWU (22) and Southern (26).

QUOTES

I wasn’t at the game and I used the only two from Mark Few’s post-game session! There are some quotes in the links provided above.