Meltdown in Moraga
Gaels’ 19-game winning streak ends with thud against top rival
Gone are St. Mary’s winning streaks. Gone is the Gaels’ outright lead in the WCC.
That’s because on Saturday night at McKeon Pavilion, the 11th-ranked Gaels’ chances of knocking off No. 12 Gonzaga were long gone by the middle of the second half.
The Zags did not trail, and led by as many as 22, in a 78-65 pasting of St. Mary’s in the first-ever meeting between WCC teams ranked in the top 15.
St. Mary’s (24-3, 13-1 WCC) won 74-71 in Spokane last month as part of what was a school-record winning streak of 19 games.
That loss apparently provided the Zags (23-4, 13-1) with plenty of motivation.
“We led that thing in Spokane for 35 minutes, and I think most of the guys … were a little upset and disappointed that we didn’t finish it off,” Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said. “So I think that was probably what was on our mind the most.”
St. Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett said the Zags “came in with a desperate mind-set. … We didn’t play desperate enough. Whatever the psychology is behind that, you don’t know. Guys write books on it. The bottom line is … they
played better.”
Gonzaga hounded St. Mary’s center Jock Landale with double-teams all night — and the strategy worked even better than Few and his staff could have envisioned.
Landale, who came into Saturday leading the WCC in points per game (22.7) and fieldgoal percentage (66), was held to four points and managed a mere four shots from the field.
“As soon as it touched my hands, I had two guys on top of me,” said Landale, who didn’t force any shots. “This team’s not about me. I don’t have to score every possession.”
The Zags scored on their first three possessions, getting three-pointers from Josh Perkins, Silas Melson and Zach Norvell Jr. to take a 9-2 edge.
“They came out and kind of just hit us in the mouth,” St. Mary’s guard Jordan Ford said.
That lead quickly grew to 15-4 and 22-5. Yes, barely seven minutes into the game, the Gaels trailed by 17.
With 8½ minutes remaining in the half, Emmett Naar’s long pass to Landale led to a breakaway slam for the senior center.
That was significant in two ways: It ignited an 11-2 St. Mary’s run that cut the Gaels’ deficit to 28-21 with 5:14 left in the half, and it was Landale’s lone shot attempt of the half.
The Gaels got no closer the rest of the way. With 17 points, Ford was the lone St. Mary’s starter to score in double figures.
“We had a number of guys who I didn’t think played very well for us,” Bennett said. “Maybe they had something to do with it.”
Gonzaga reserve forward Rui Hachimura scored a gamehigh 21 points. Three of his
teammates scored in double figures, including Johnathan Williams, who had 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Gaels had won 17 straight WCC games and 16 straight home games. Those streaks began after then-No. 1 Gonzaga picked up a 74-64 win in McKeon last February.
Gonzaga has won 22 consecutive WCC road games. Its last conference road loss came in McKeon in January 2016.
The Zags and Gaels each have four regular-season games remaining. Gonzaga’s schedule appears to be a bit tougher; the Zags’ final two games are at San Diego and at BYU.