Day after West Virginia

There was one constant throughout the many ups and downs Gonzaga experienced before rallying for an 80-76 road win over West Virginia: Przemek Karnowski.

With Sam Dower Jr. in foul trouble and the Bulldogs’ offense sputtering, the 7-foot-1 center provided scoring, rebounding, a defensive presence and stability. He also didn’t commit a foul until 2:07 left in the second half.

Here’s the S-R game recap , another game story here and some pointed comments by WVU players in this article ,

More below in my day-after post.

—I wasn’t in Morgantown so I watched on TV, listened to post-game radio interviews with Karnowski and assistant coach Brian Michaelson and relied on quotes provided by Gonzaga SID Oliver Pierce.

Karnowski has played limited minutes in big games in hostile environments but wasn’t necessarily counted on previously in those situations, Michaelson noted. That changed Tuesday and “he delivered in the biggest way,” Michaelson said.

Karnowski has shown noticeable improvement the last few weeks. He’s shared or led GU in rebounding the last five games.

“We’re happy about this win, especially how we battled on the glass,” Karnowski said. “We knew we had to give all our effort on the glass and I think we did really well.”

Karnowski is doing a better job at avoiding the silly fouls that have put him on the bench with foul trouble. He drained 7 of 8 FTs last night, swishing several, and the left-hander made at least two buckets with his right hand.

“He was huge,” guard Kevin Pangos said. “He kept us in during stretches when shots weren’t falling. He was a beast down low.”

—Pangos was huge, too, catching fire with 11 points in a 2-minute, 31-second span as GU rallied from five down to take a 74-66 lead. It was the second game in a row Pangos has responded to a slow start with a strong second half. He hit three 3s in the second half against New Mexico State.

I ran his quote in the game recap, but I’ll repeat it here because it is the essence of a shooter’s mentality.

“You never like missing shots like that,” said Pangos, who was just 3 of 10 in the first half, “but in the long run I always know the next one is going in, that’s how I feel. I trust my abilities and the work I put in.”

—This game was similar in some ways to Saturday’s win over New Mexico State. GU relied on a big second half, Pangos’ long-distance accuracy in the second half and solid work game-long on the boards to overcome an “off” night offensively.

It seems odd to mention an “off” night when Gonzaga puts up 80 points, but numerically that was the case. The Zags shot a season-low 44.3 percent and made just 7 of 20 3-pointers (thanks to Pangos’ late-game burst) for 35 percent (second lowest of the season), but the Bulldogs were 19 of 23 on FTs and connected on more than half of their second-half shots (14 of 27).

GU scored 45 points in the second half. Against New Mexico State, GU had 31 points in the first half, 49 in the second in an 80-68 win. Gonzaga is averaging 89.4 points per game.

STATS OF NOTE

—Gonzaga is 41-4 in its last 45 games (32-3 last season).

—As mentioned above, Pangos scored 11 points in a 2:31 span late — those were his only points in the second half.

—David Stockton had six assists and five points in the second half.

—GU essentially went with a six-man rotation in the second half: Gerard Coleman didn’t play, Drew Barham played a few seconds in the closing minute. The other six players logged at least 15 minutes.

—Gonzaga’s banged-up backcourt of Pangos (toe) and Bell (hip) combined for 33 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, three steals and just two turnovers in 75 minutes.

—WVU’s Eron Harris took 15 shots and scored 18 points in the first half.  He had just five shot attempts and five points in the second half.

QUOTEBOOK

WVU guard Juwan Staten in Charleston Gazette: “Pangos was the only person who was going to get the shots at the end of the game. And we let him take them.”

—Few: “We did a much better job on Harris in the second half. We did a better job of locating him.”

—Pangos on winning games in the latter stages: “I’m a competitive guy; I love to win.”