San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
ZAGS NOT IN RANKINGS, BUT DRILL TOREROS
The Gonzaga team that took the floor against USD at Jenny Craig Pavilion may not be quite as talented as some recent squads coached by Mark Few, but these Bulldogs sure looked sharp Saturday night.
The visitors, who recently fell out of the AP top 25 following losses to San Diego State and Santa Clara, blitzed the Toreros with a 22-0 run early in the first half and cruised to a 105-63 victory.
The Toreros (10-10, 0-5 WCC) have lost six of their last seven overall and 17 consecutive games to the Bulldogs, who defeated them 10174 in Spokane on Jan. 6.
Guard Wayne Mckinney III paced USD with 17 points, but the Toreros shot 36 percent from the field (6 of 26 from 3-point range) and were dominated in just about every statistical category as Gonzaga finished with a whopping 51-28 rebounding edge, 54-30 pointsin-the-paint advantage and 32-9 edge in fast-break points.
During the portion of the game that really mattered — the first half — the Toreros shot 31.4 percent from the field (11 of 35) and 15.4 percent from 3-point range (2 of 13).
Many of those shots were contested but the Toreros also missed some open looks and that wasn’t going to cut it against a team like Gonzaga, which has the usual combination of size, shooting ability and experience.
Gonzaga shot a crisp 63.6 percent (21 of 33) in the first half and 41.7 percent from 3point range (5 of 12) while controlling the paint and boards with bigs Braden Huff, Graham Ike and Ben Gregg.
Huff scored 18 of his gamehigh 24 points in the first half, hurting the Toreros from deep range with a 3pointer, and in the paint, where he threw down three dunks.
The Bulldogs carried a 54-27 lead into the break and were never threatened in the second half.
Gonzaga (13-5, 4-1 WCC) remains very much in the mix to win a 26th regular season WCC title and will get a crack at another contender when second-place San Francisco visits Spokane on Thursday.
Saturday night’s game served as a further reminder that there is a definitive gap between the WCC’S top four teams — Gonzaga, San Francisco, Santa Clara and Saint Mary’s — and the other five, a group that currently includes USD.
USD will face two of those “others” in the coming week with a visit to Portland on Tuesday night and a bus ride up to Pepperdine next Saturday as part of a stretch of four straight road games.
Notable
USD freshman center David Simon, who appeared in four games but has dealt with a string of foot injuries, will redshirt and retain four seasons of eligibility beginning next season.