Gaels stay close — then get blown out
By Andy Buhler
SPOKANE, Wash. — The ESPN2 nightcap had buzz typical of a billing between these WCC rivals. It turned into a blowout. No. 21 St. Mary’s stuck around for about 30 minutes but couldn’t contain No. 5 Gonzaga’s shooting in a 79-56 blowout loss at the McCarthey Athletic Center on Saturday night.
The Gaels (15-2, 5-1 WCC) were dealt their first conference loss, while Gonzaga (17-0, 5-0) remains the lone undefeated men’s team in the country.
Calvin Hermanson led the Gaels with 12 points. Emmett Naar and Joe Rahon were a combined 5-of-20 from the field. Jock Landale had 10 points and spent the night in foul trouble.
Nigel Williams-Goss paced the Zags with 19 points and six assists.
For 30 minutes, it was a good
game. The Gaels’ offense — the second slowest in the NCAA, per the analytics site KenPom. com — averaged 24 seconds per possession and shot just under 50 percent from the field in the first half. But stopping the Zags was the issue.
St. Mary’s missed five of its first seven shots. The Zags pushed the tempo and hopped up 11-5 behind five early points by Jordan Mathews, the former Cal guard, and a couple of floaters from Williams-Goss.
The Gaels charged right back. They made nine of their next 13 shots, and did so without Landale, who picked up two early fouls and sat most of the first half.
“I don’t think (Landale’s foul trouble) affected us much,” head coach Randy Bennett said. “I thought we played well with Dane (Pineau). We weren’t better when Jock was in the game.”
Hermanson secured a fourpoint play after being fouled hitting a three, tying the game at 18-18. Moments later, an Evan Fitzner three gave the Gaels their first lead midway through the first half, 25-23.
Down 32-31, Gonzaga closed the half on a 12-2 run to lead 43-34.
The much-anticipated matchup of Landale and Gonzaga’s Przemek Karnowski didn’t materialize. Landale played six first-half minutes, then started the second with eight points in the first 5:07.
Pineau hit a three to cut the Gaels’ deficit to five with 12:02 to play, 52-47. At the 10:46 mark, Landale picked up his fourth foul.
Each time the Zags picked up the tempo, St. Mary’s struggled to keep up. Still, the Gaels kept the game within reach. A Hermanson three at 8:40 cut the deficit to six, 58-52, but the Bulldogs scored the next nine buckets to put the game out of reach, closing with a 21-4 run.
“We totally lost our composure as a team,” Bennett said. “We’re too experienced, too good a team to do that. It should have been a good game, but we didn’t do our part to finish it.”
The last time the teams met in Spokane, the Gaels spoiled senior night with a 63-58 win.
“Never is that OK,” Gonzaga guard Josh Perkins said of the February loss, adding that some Zags had the game circled.
Bennett didn’t subscribe to that belief.
“You can make some story about that,” Bennett said, “but I don’t think that has anything to do with it. They’re trying to keep their undefeated streak, trying to win the league, trying to be good. I don’t think it has any impact on the motivation.”
St. Mary’s and Gonzaga meet once more, in Moraga on Feb. 11. The Gaels return home to face Pacific on Thursday.