Key matchup: LMU’s Cam Shelton enters Gonzaga matchup averaging 26 points over eight-game stretch
LOS ANGELES – Some of the best moments of Gonzaga’s season involve a guard or wing making a clutch shot, or series of clutch shots, down the stretch of a game to help secure a victory.
Rasir Bolton against San Francisco. Nolan Hickman against Santa Clara. Julian Strawther against BYU. Strawther against BYU again.
The Bulldogs have also been on the other end of that on a few occasions.
On Jan. 19, with less than 30 seconds remaining at the Kennel, Loyola Marymount’s Cam Shelton took Drew Timme off the dribble, blowing past the Gonzaga big man before flipping in what proved to be the winning layup.
Few players in the West Coast Conference are playing with more confidence than Shelton, who scored 27 points – one off his career high at the time – in LMU’s 68-67 upset of No. 6 Gonzaga in Spokane.
Shelton set another career high, scoring 31 points as LMU pulled off another major WCC upset, edging No. 15 Saint Mary’s 78-74 in overtime last Thursday. That lasted all of two days before Shelton scored 36 points in a 71-69 loss to Santa Clara on Saturday.
With a 7-6 conference record, LMU won’t earn a top-two seed at the WCC tournament, which may be the only thing keeping the fifth-year senior from being in WCC Player of the Year contention.
Over LMU’s past eight games, Shelton has averaged 26 points – his lowest total of that stretch being a 15-point night against BYU. At 22.0 ppg in WCC games, the Chino, California, native is scoring more than anyone in the conference, but he’s still getting teammates involved. Shelton’s 4.9 assists per game (in WCC games) rank third in the conference.
The Bulldogs would rather Shelton look to distribute than score, but keeping the ball out of the guard’s hands entirely may be the best approach if Gonzaga hopes to prevent another big scoring night.
“Once he gets the ball, it’s kind of hard to stop him. He has a lot of experience, and he can do a little bit of everything, really,” Gonzaga’s Anton Watson said. “He can get to the cup. He hit a couple 3s on us that were big, and he just kind of does a little bit of everything.”
The Zags don’t have a strong defensive option in the backcourt when it comes to the Shelton matchup, but it was often point guard Hickman drawing the assignment when the teams met last month.
“He has a good engine, he plays the whole game,” Watson said. “I think the key for us is just getting the ball out of his hands as much as possible and making someone else make plays.”