WCC Basketball Fans

Gonzaga 70, San Francisco 53

The last time the San Francisco Dons faced Gonzaga, the boys from the Bay Area took home a five-point victory on home hardwood. Heading into the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Washington, the Dons realized how cruel a road trip can be.
With each team sitting at 8-3 in the West Coast Conference before tip-off in Eastern Washington, the Dons and Zags were looking to make their presence felt in the conference. USF was eying a breakthrough on the road, while Gonzaga was looking to get back into the conference race on heels of a five-game WCC winning streak.

By the end of this battle, the Dons were just hoping to avoid total embarrassment. Steven Gray tallied 19 points and Marquise Carter added 18, leading Gonzaga to an impressive and comprehensive shellacking of the Dons, extending their winning ways and moving into sole possession of second place in the WCC. The home win comes at a good time for the Bulldogs, who had already lost four home games this season.

The Dons were frustrated into 37.7 percent shooting, losing for the second time in three games. Even more frustrating is the fact that they had won nine of eleven games entering this stretch, having moved within one game of a first-place tie in the WCC. What also has to unnerve the sons of San Francisco is that their two losses have come to St. Mary’s and Gonzaga, easily the class of the conference and the West Coast’s longtime power brokers. The Dons have outplayed the rest of the WCC, but they’ve been waxed by the Zags and Saint Mary’s. They’ve lost in embarrassing fashion, losing by 18 at home against the Gaels before losing by 17 on Saturday to Gonzaga.

Coach Rex Walters’ Dons were outplayed in almost every facet of this particular game, and only had one scorer hit double digits – Michael Williams with 13 points. Even a balanced effort by the rest of the team, with six other players scoring at least five points, proved to be too little: Balance only means something when it’s substantial; the Dons got even distribution of their points, but not hefty distribution. USF was thoroughly unable to find an offensive weapon to complement Williams in the building informally known as “The Kennel,” where the Bulldogs have ruled every WCC opponent other than Saint Mary’s this season.

Gonzaga head coach Mark Few pushed a defensive effort that not only quieted the Dons’ offensive attack, but also forced 18 turnovers, seven of which came on Bulldogs’ steals, and frustrated the Dons on almost every possession. The Bulldogs were up 34-32 at the half, but started pulling away as the second half started and didn’t look back. Aside from Gray and Carter, four other Bulldogs scored. Elias Harris rang up 14 points, and the Bulldogs also received 14 points from their bench.

Looking ahead, Gonzaga has a huge road game against St. Mary’s on Thursday, when a win could move the Zags into a first-place tie with one conference game left. The Dons have an outside shot at first place, but more likely they will be looking for some help in hopes of finishing in second place in the West Coast Conference, which would be good enough for a quarterfinal bye in the league tournament.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer