Day after Coppin State

Gonzaga returned from Maui with a shorter-than-usual turnaround than previous trips but it had the ideal opponent on the schedule. After playing three games in three days in Lahaina, GU was barely tested by the Eagles and led by 25 at half.

The rest of December is filled with tougher challenges — New Mexico State on Saturday, at West Virginia, South Alabama in Seattle, Kansas State in Wichita and the beginning of the WCC slate with Santa Clara and San Francisco.

The Bulldogs routed Coppin State 86-51 on Sunday night. Here’s my game story , Dan Pelle’s photos and an AP recap .

Gonzaga (7-1) dropped five spots in the USA Today rankings , from 10th to 15th, after the loss to the Dayton Flyers, who are receiving votes. Saint Mary’s and Boise State, coached by ex-Zag assistant Leon Rice, are receiving votes. GU and Memphis, which entertains the Zags on Feb. 8, are tied for 15th.

Kevin Pangos , who surpassed 1,000 career points in Maui, was named the WCC player of the week for the second straight time.

My day-after Coppin State is below.

—The Bulldogs’ frontcourt depth received a boost with the return of 7-1 freshman Ryan Edwards, who had his tonsils removed prior to the season opener vs. Bryant. Edwards was also battling mono during preseason workouts and the combination of the two resulted in a near 40-pound weight loss.

“I had mono a little before (the tonsillectomy), I had it during the exhibition game (against Simon Fraser) but had no idea,” Edwards said. “When they tested for it they found out I was at the very end of (having mono).”

He arrived at GU at 295 and now weighs in the upper 250s. Edwards played six minutes and scored five points, going 5 of 6 at the line.

“It’s been way too long,” Edwards said. “Having those three weeks out it took a lot out of me physically and mentally. I couldn’t be at all the practices and not being to run up and down with the team it threw me off a little bit. Coming back definitely feels a lot better.”

It’s obviously going to take time for Edwards to rebuild his strength and stamina.

“We’re hoping he can give us some minutes in some of these games because we’re so light in there,” coach Mark Few said.

Another helping hand is on the way. Angel Nunez, a 6-8 transfer from Louisville who can play the ‘3’ or ‘4’, becomes eligible for the Kansas State game on Dec. 21.

—The Bulldogs are taking a brief break after a hectic stretch. They played three games in three days in Maui, then took a day off on Thanksgiving. GU practiced Friday in Maui and then returned home, arriving after midnight.

They practiced Saturday and played Coppin State on Sunday. With New Mexico State up next Saturday, the Bulldogs will try to recharge their batteries.

“I don’t know if he (Few) is giving us two days off, but I’ll take one any day to get my body back where it was,” Bell said. “It’s been like AAU days – you play three straight days, come back home and play in another tournament. It’ll be nice to get this little break.”

—Coppin State tried to slow the pace early, working the shot clock, but the Eagles couldn’t connect from the perimeter and had at least two shot-clock violations. They sped up the pace in the second half, but never dialed in from long distance (2 of 18 on 3-pointers).

“We can’t shoot 11 percent from 3-point range when that’s one of our strengths and expect to win games,” coach Ron ‘Fang’ Mitchell said. “We wanted to be a little more patient with the shots we were taking. I don’t think we did a real good job of that. We took some bad shots that didn’t help us at all.”

Gonzaga twice beat Coppin State back for easy baskets after the Eagles had scored on the offensive end.

STATS OF NOTE

—Coppin State’s 32.1 percent shooting equaled Colorado State for the lowest percentage allowed by Gonzaga this season.

—For one of the rare times this season, teams weren’t constantly dealing with foul trouble, other than one of Coppin State’s bigs. GU finished with 13 fouls, CSU 17. The teams attempted 38 free throws, low by this season’s standards. Neither team was in the bonus season for large portions of time.

—Gonzaga’s offense is putting up huge numbers through eight games (NCAA stats here ). The Bulldogs are No. 1 in 3-pointers made (87), No. 1 in field-goal percentage (55.8), second in 3-point percentage (48.1) and fifth in scoring (91.8). They’re fourth in 3-pointers per game (10.9).

Sam Dower Jr. is 15 ^th in field-goal percentage (64.7).

—Approximately 50 of GU’s 91.8 points per game are coming from Pangos (20.4), Bell (15.0) and Dower (14.5).

QUOTEBOOK

CSU coach Mitchell: “We expected to try to contain Pangos and Bell, and I don’t think Pangos really hurt us but Bell killed us, and they killed us on some easy shots inside. … Our zone was done to be able to get to their shooters as well as be able to contain the inside, a lot better than trying to stop them one on one.”

Few on GU’s first-half defense: “It was very, very good. We challenged our guys, coming back from Maui people usually struggle with that a little bit and we had shortest turnaround in all of the times we’ve gone to Maui. I thought guys did a great job flying around and creating their own energy.”

Barham on the team’s 3-point shooting: “Everybody can shoot, it doesn’t matter who it is and that makes it harder to guard. If Kevin is hot, we keep getting him the ball, if Gary’s hot we keep getting him the ball, Kyle, myself. That’s a mark of a good team.”

Few on Coleman, who had 14 points: “That’s what he does. Gerard can really finish, get out in the open floor.”