Healthy Tillie makes Bulldogs even tougher
SALT LAKE CITY — Gonzaga forward Killian Tillie returned from a foot injury in January, only to injure it again.
The Bulldogs were a bit more aggressive with Tillie’s rehab the second time around, and it appears to have paid off.
Playing fast and free, Tillie was superb in top-seeded Gonzaga’s 87-49 blowout victory over No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday night in the NCAA Tournament’s West Regional.
The 6-10 Frenchman scored 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting and proved that he is feeling good with a dunk over two Knights defenders that brought his teammates to their feet.
“He’s actually moving better than when he came back in January because he was in a no weightbearing (situation) and his legs weren’t quite there,” Bulldogs coach Mark Few said. “This last time we were able to kind of do more things in his recovery, so he’s moving better and has a little bit more pop.”
Gonzaga (31-3) is going to need that pop against ninth-seeded Baylor on Saturday.
While the Bulldogs faced a tired and overmatched team in Fairleigh Dickinson, which had a short turnaround after winning its First Four game at Dayton, Ohio, on Tuesday, the Bears (2013)
will be a much bigger challenge on both ends of the court.
Baylor shot its way over and past Syracuse’s vaunted zone in its opener, getting 22 points from guard Makai Mason and hitting a school NCAA Tournament-record 16 3-pointers in the 79-68 victory over the eighth-seeded Orange.
The Bears hit six 3s in the first six minutes a variety of ways — drive and kicks, after offensive rebounds, extra deep and even a banked-in one by Mark Vital.
“The fact that we play zone helped us in this game, being able to go against that and practice every day with our guys flying around,” said Mason, who is playing on an injured foot.. “We are used to those shots, kick-out 3s.”
Baylor had a few lapses defensively against Syracuse but plays a 1-3-1 zone that is difficult to prepare for, particularly with the quick turnaround that comes with playing in the NCAA Tournament. “The whole point of the zone is to take you out of your rhythm, and possessions can seem like they’re stagnant,” Gonzaga forward Corey Kispert said. “As long as you can get a good shot against the zone, it’s a win.”
A big part of the Bears’ defensive scheme likely will revolve around stopping Bulldogs forward Rui Hachimura, the West Coast Conference player of the year.
Able to play in the post, beat defenders off the dribble or knock down shots with his superb mid-range game, Hachimura, who leads Gonzaga with 20.1 points per game and shoots 61 percent, had 21 points and eight rebounds in the Bulldogs’ easy victory Thursday.
“Someone said, ‘Can you describe his game?’ I said, ‘Yeah, it’s like a lot of guys I see playing in the NBA,’ ” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “With his size, his power, his skill set, he’s a real tough matchup.”