USD gives GU’s title hopes a boost

I deliberately waited to post my article that will run on Thursday’s Four Corners page in the S-R. The topic was the importance of earning a No. 1 or No. 2 seed as it relates to WCC Tournament success.

Gonzaga entered the night with an outside shot at keeping its streak of 10 consecutive WCC regular-season titles going, but San Diego, tied with LMU for last in the conference, stunned Saint Mary’s and Gaels’ standout Rob Jones appeared to suffer a rib-cage injury..

Now, Gonzaga can earn at least a co-WCC title by winning its last four conference games. The Bulldogs have two important games this week when fourth-place Santa Clara and San Francisco, tied with GU for second, visit the MAC.

When San Diego pulled off its upset, I did a quick re-write and here’s a link to the article that will run tomorrow.

By the way, I visited briefly with Robert Sacre prior to Tuesday’s practice and he said he’s feeling much better after battling illness last weekend. He took it easy on Sunday and Monday and judging by the effort he expended in the first 30 minutes of Tuesday’s practice, he appears to be feeling much better. Steven Gray, who was under the weather on last week’s road trip, also practiced hard during the first half hour of Tuesday’s drills.

“I’ve got my energy back,” Sacre said.

More below.

Here’s a quick look at GU’s week:

GONZAGA BULLDOGS

RECORD: 17-9, 7-3 WCC

COMING UP: Tonight vs. Santa Clara , Saturday vs. San Francisco

OUTLOOK: Gonzaga lost to both of this week’s opponents on the road last month. The games loom large for tournament seeding purposes, especially with the first tiebreaker head-to-head results. In its last three games, Santa Clara lost to San Francisco and Saint Mary’s, and needed a comeback from 20 points down in the second half to beat San Diego last Saturday. Sophomore guard Kevin Foster averages 20.7 points per WCC game, but he’s made just 38.1 percent of his shots and 32 percent of his 3-pointers. Marc Trasolini (10.7) and Evan Roquemore (10.6) also average double digits. San Francisco had five players score at least 15 points, led by freshman guard Cody Doolin’s career-high 23, in a 96-91 overtime win against Gonzaga. Doolin had the game-winning three-point play in the closing seconds. The Dons’ 7-3 WCC mark is their best since having the same record in the 2002 season.

GONZAGA STAT LEADERS

Steven Gray 14.6 points, 4 assists

Robert Sacre 12.9 points, 6.7 rebounds

Elias Harris 11.9 points, 5.8 rebounds

Demetri Goodson 2.9 assists