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Gonzaga Basketball

Gonzaga nullifies WSU’s size advantage, counters mismatches by forcing 16 turnovers in 88-75 win

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Dusty Stromer blocks Washington State Cougars forward LeJuan Watts on Saturday at McCarthey Athletic Center.  (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)

Gonzaga expected Washington State to try and play to its size advantage at multiple positions Saturday night, whether that meant 6-foot-6 LeJuan Watts posting up 6-2 Nolan Hickman, 6-11 Dane Erikstrup backing down 6-5 Khalif Battle or 6-10 Ethan Price working against 6-6 Dusty Stromer.

A full 19 seconds had elapsed in the 151st rivalry matchup between Gonzaga and WSU when the Cougars took their first crack at exploiting one such mismatch.

With Battle struggling to hold position against Erikstrup, giving up 6 inches and nearly 40 pounds to the forward, Watts delivered a bounce pass into the post. Battle made an attempt to intercept the ball but arrived a half-second late, allowing Erikstrup to field the pass and lay it in the basket.

Gonzaga’s adjustments didn’t kick in right away, but they were noticeable by the early stages of the second half and effective all the way up to the final buzzer during an 88-75 win.

WSU went back to Erikstrup on the second possession coming out of the break, looking to cash in on the matchup with Battle. Rather than pursue a steal, GU’s guard pressed up against the WSU forward, making the catch uncomfortable. Erikstrup came up empty, fumbling the pass and committing a turnover after sprawling on the floor to save the ball.

Gonzaga nullified WSU’s size advantage during its 15th victory over the Cougars in the last 18 matchups, limiting bigs Erikstrup and Price – experienced seniors averaging a combined 24.8 points on 48% shooting – to 13 total points on 6 of 17 (35%) from the field.

Those two also accounted for eight of WSU’s 16 turnovers, committing four apiece.

“You just don’t see the post up thing like this where your guards are constantly getting posted,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “So in that way, we fought, we were physical and kind of had to navigate our way through a lot of different actions. There was staggers and some curls and some switches and all that. For the most part, we did pretty good.”

Gonzaga’s guards and wings denied WSU’s post entries, often preventing the Cougars from getting quality looks at the basket. When Erikstrup, Price and others did receive interior passes, the Zags capitalized on opportunities to knock or strip the ball away.

“I think we came out, we played as hard as we could,” Stromer said. “I was fighting the bigs the whole night and I think I was able to get some steals by trying to get around a big and taking (the ball) and moving in transition. But yeah, everyone played their tails off defensively so we had a great night.”

Stromer, consistently one of GU’s hardest workers on the defensive end, blocked Erikstrup’s layups on consecutive possessions midway through the first half and came up with three steals, matching his career-high.

Nolan Hickman turned away the bigger, stronger Watts on a layup in the second half, then scored at the other end to cap a four-point swing as the Zags were making their decisive run.

“Got a little sped up, that was the common theme,” WSU coach David Riley said. “We had three or four travels in that first half it seemed from being sped up. Three of our turnovers came from post entry passes. We had 12 turnovers at halftime, which was bad. But that’s six or seven turnovers right now. They’re very, very controllable. Gonzaga does a good job three-quarter fronting the post. We knew we had to throw ball fakes, we got sped up.”

Gonzaga’s defensive numbers were skewed in part because of a closing 8-0 run from WSU with the game already decided, but the Bulldogs still held the Cougars 11 points below their average point total in WCC play, forcing 16 turnovers – 12 in the first half – and limiting the visitors to 26 points through the first 17 minutes, 12 seconds of the second half.

Few didn’t necessarily agree that GU’s second half stacked up with the team’s best defensive halves of the season, but commended the Zags’ effort and physicality while mitigating WSU’s size advantage.

“Not statistically or efficient wise, but I thought our effort and our making plays, I thought it was up there,” he said. “And just the physicality it took, because again they’re so much bigger than us at several of those spots.”