Gonzaga anticipates hard-fought game with San Francisco
No lead is safe in this year’s West Coast Conference.
The Gonzaga men’s basketball team has been on both the right and wrong ends of major comebacks, most recently in Saturday’s 78-70 overtime loss to Saint Mary’s in Moraga, California.
The No. 16 Zags (19-5, 8-2 WCC) are back home to host San Francisco (12-14, 4-7), another team that’s experienced this phenomenon. Tipoff is Thursday at 6 p.m. PST.
When the teams met in War Memorial Gym on Jan. 5, Gonzaga trailed by 10 points at halftime before rallying back to win on a putback layup from Rasir Bolton with eight seconds remaining.
Bolton’s bucket spoiled a near-upset victory for the Dons, who had starting guards Khalil Shabazz and Tyrell Roberts combine for 35 points.
Shabazz and Roberts scored 31 and 17 points, respectively, in USF’s 84-70 loss to Santa Clara on Saturday.
“They’re a really, really potent offense,” said Gonzaga head coach Mark Few to the Spokesman-Review. “I mean Shabazz, he can hit a variety of shots.”
However, it was more than just standout guard play that made the Dons a difficult matchup for the Zags earlier in the season.
USF’s big men were able to limit Gonzaga forward Drew Timme to 11 points on 3-of-16 shooting from the field in 37 minutes.
Dons head coach Chris Gerlufsen deployed 7-foot-2 Volodymyr Markovetskyy and 7-foot-1 Saba Gigiberia on Timme, who was smothered in the paint on almost every possession.
“They gave us fits down at their place and their bigs played good too:” Few said. “They were really physical with Drew and we were lucky to get out of there with a win, so it’s going to be a tough one.”
The Dons’ focus on Timme could pave the way for Anton Watson to step up and have another productive outing. Watson shot 6-for-9 and had 14 points against USF on Jan. 5, and has been a steady contributor for the Zags this season.
In Gonzaga’s most recent win over Santa Clara last Thursday, Watson finished with 18 points on 8-of-8 shooting. It marked the third consecutive outing in which he had at least 16 points.
Watson believes it will take another resilient effort to take down the Dons.
“Every team in the WCC wants to beat us, especially on our home court,” Watson said. “I think they’re going to come out fighting. San Fran’s a good team, obviously. They gave us a fight, they just gave Saint Mary’s a fight. They’re a good team, so we’ve got to take them seriously. I think we’ll be prepared for that.”
Before the game, the Zags will honor Dan Dickau’s No. 21 in a pregame ceremony at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
Dickau played two seasons at Gonzaga where he averaged 20.1 points, 5.3 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game.
He was the first Zag to be named a first-team All-American after leading the program to a No. 6 national ranking and 29 wins during the 2001-02 season.
