Ben Gregg’s energy, career-high 22 points lead Gonzaga to easy win over San Diego
Gonzaga’s first three possessions vs. San Diego’s zone defense: Anton Watson dunk, Watson mid-range jumper in the lane and Dusty Stromer wide-open 3-pointer from the wing.
The Zags’ offense hit their stride early and reached full speed, feasting on Torero turnovers in a 101-74 victory Saturday at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
No. 24 Gonzaga (11-4, 2-0 West Coast Conference) drained 60% of its first-half shots while building a 55-35 lead. The Zags cruised to the finish line as Mark Few moved within one win of 700 in 25 seasons as Gonzaga’s head coach.
Junior forward Ben Gregg checked into the game with 14:51 left in the opening half, snagged the first of his four first-half steals and dunked home two points just seven seconds later. He finished with a career-high 22 points.
“He came in and gave us energy right from the jump,” Few said. “He was making positive plays at both ends of the floor. I thought that was huge.”
San Diego tried a variety of zone defenses, occasional traps and man-to-man at times, but nothing seemed to slow down the Zags, who connected on 56.5% from the field, second only to Arkansas Pine-Bluff (57%) against Division I competition this season.
“They’re real tricky,” said junior guard Nolan Hickman, who had 17 points and four assists. “They run all types of different zones, jump into man out of nowhere. Coach (Few) went into it saying it’s not going to be a lot of plays called, we’re going to have to play by instinct and figure it out. That’s what we did.”
Graham Ike had 15 of his 19 points in the first half. The junior center played just 21 minutes. Ryan Nembhard chipped in 18 points, nine assists – matching his season high against San Diego State – six rebounds and four steals.
Nembhard drew one of the evening’s louder ovations when he hit a 3-pointer with 3:09 remaining for the team’s 10th triple and free tacos for fans.
“I thought Ryan in a really fast-paced game with them switching defenses all the time had a really good feel for that,” Few said. “And Nolan has put together two really solid games in a row.”
Gonzaga accumulated 27 assists – one behind its season high of 28 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff – and had just nine turnovers.
“This was a high-possession game, a high-paced game, and there was a little too much wildness,” Few said. “For us to only have nine turnovers is really good. The way they play, it’s not normal. There’s not a lot of sets we can run, and they converge in the lanes really well. Obviously you saw how well they can protect the rim. Probably six or seven layups we had they took off the board, but I thought the guys hung with it.”
USD (10-7, 0-2), playing without point guard Wayne McKinney III, the team’s second-leading scorer who apparently hurt his foot or ankle in Thursday’s loss to Saint Mary’s, committed 13 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, leading to Gonzaga’s 19-4 advantage in points of turnovers and a 15-2 edge in fastbreak points.
“We wanted to get up into them, especially in our own gym, and we did a decent job with that,” Few said. “In stretches it was really good, probably that first eight minutes, then we hit a little lull. We just have to tighten some things up and especially some of those rotation guys need to come in and help us a little more defensively.”
Hickman limited USD leading scorer Deuce Turner to seven points on 2-of-6 shooting in the opening half. Turner, who scored 59 points in the previous two games, heated up to finish with 24 points but most came long after Gonzaga had constructed a comfortable lead.
Gonzaga fifth-year senior forward Anton Watson was limited to six minutes in the second half after dislocating his pinky finger.
The Zags, who won their first two WCC games over Pepperdine and USD by a combined 53 points, visit Santa Clara next Thursday before road dates with Pepperdine and San Diego the following week. Santa Clara is 2-0 in conference after road wins against Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine.
San Diego entertains San Francisco next Thursday. The Toreros’ first three conference games were against Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga and USF, the teams picked 1-2-3 in the WCC coaches’ preseason poll.