Mario Saint-Supery returns to starting unit, scores 14 in Gonzaga’s win over USF | 3 takeaways
Three takeaways at the buzzer from Gonzaga’s 80-59 West Coast Conference win over San Francisco on Wednesday at the Chase Center.
Mario gets starting nod
Freshman point guard Mario Saint-Supery returned to the starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 21 versus Oregon. He was battling illness at that time and Braeden Smith came off the bench and produced his best game of the season with 21 points and seven assists in a victory over the Ducks in Portland.
Saint-Supery had a solid first half against the Dons with seven points and three assists in 16 turnover-free minutes. He finished with 14 points, six assists, two 3-pointers and just one turnover in 33 minutes.
Saint-Supery has seen a slight uptick in minutes in the last few weeks and responded with at least eight points in seven of the last nine games. The 6-foot-4 native of Spain started the second half and played all 20 minutes in GU’s 94-86 road win over Santa Clara on Saturday.
Smith has played just nine-plus minutes in the last two games.
Another Fogle surge
Freshman wing Davis Fogle delivered a lot in a short amount of time, much like his momentum-turning shift in the second half of Saturday’s win over Santa Clara.
With GU leading just 20-19 in the first half, Fogle had consecutive assists as the Zags hiked their lead to five. Fogle then hit a pull-up jumper and a nifty reverse layup as GU’s lead grew to eight.
Fogle added an and-one dunk with six seconds left as Gonzaga took a 41-29 halftime lead. Fogle racked up seven points, three rebounds and two assists in the final 7:36 of the half. He finished with eight points and five boards.
Ball security
The Zags have taken care of the ball most of the season, but they’ve been even better in that aspect over the last month.
Gonzaga had just seven turnovers against San Francisco, marking its sixth single-digit turnover effort in the last eight games.
That led to another lopsided advantage in points off turnovers: GU 17, USF 6. Gonzaga holds a 142-58 advantage in that category in the last eight games.
Gonzaga entered the game tied for 39th at 10 turnovers per game. The Zags matched a program record with just two turnovers in an 81-61 road win over Oregon State on Feb. 7.
The Zags haven’t had more turnovers than an opponent since a road win over San Diego on Dec. 30 when they had 15 and the Toreros had 11.