Press coverage of the Oral Roberts game

[ZagNative]

Starting with Jim Meehan's story in the SR:

Gonzaga picked a good time to stop turning the ball over – the last four minutes – and Mike Hart picked an ideal time to make his first 3-pointer of the season.

The Bulldogs were on the verge of pulling away but a string of turnovers allowed Oral Roberts to pull within two just under the 4-minute mark. Hart nailed a 3-pointer, followed by Gary Bell Jr.’s clutch 3 and the Bulldogs held off the Golden Eagles 67-61 in front of 6,000 Thursday at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

“I was frustrated because I came in to get a defensive stop and (Dominique Morrison) scored on me,” said Hart, whose 3-pointer from the wing off a pass from David Stockton put Gonzaga up 62-57 with 3:20 remaining. “It felt good to get one back.”

The other turnaround in the first half came on the boards. The Golden Eagles stung Gonzaga early with offensive rebounds before the Bulldogs responded.

“I tried to get after them, but they knew they were getting it handed to them pretty good and they have a lot of pride,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “We addressed it in a couple of timeouts and I think our depth helped, getting (Ryan) Spangler and Sam in there. Then we could come back with Rob and ‘E’ (Elias). I need to do a better job with that.”

Great photo album by the Spokesman-Review's Colin Mulvany

Hard to pic a fave from that album, but I like this one of Sam preventing Michael Craion from scoring:

KHQ Video - Heister and Fox break down the game

Krem 2 Game Report Video

[TheZagPhish]

Tulsa World

Said ORU head coach Scott Sutton: "We got it down to a two-point game, and we talked (in a timeout huddle) about how we had to step up and get some stops and make shots to win the game. Give their guys credit, because they did."

[FieldHouseFishHouse]

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-rRF4jn1-Kk4/TuuaSWLhZzI/AAAAAAABTYk/fpyuyLp_gYQ/s512/2011-12-15%252520Sam%252520Dower%252520Oral%252520Roberts.jpg

Apparently Sam did get scored on in this pic...but this is a textbook example of how to use the rim to protect the ball.
As a big guy myself, I can't count how many times I THOUGHT I had the block, just to get my hand bang off the rim or get caught in the damn net.

[ZagNative]

Interesting tidbits from the Tulsa World article Zagphish linked:

Bell-Holter, playing before family and friends, had a game-high 16 points and five rebounds and largely outplayed Gonzaga's 7-foot Robert Sacre, who finished with nine points and 10 rebounds.

Morrison and Michael Craion each chipped in 13 points for the Eagles (7-4), who fly Friday from Spokane to Cincinnati, Ohio, where they will take on eighth-ranked Xavier on Sunday afternoon.

Xavier will be playing without three of its four leading scorers who were suspended in the bench-clearing brawl with crosstown rival Cincinnati last weekend.

"I told our guys we have another great opportunity to beat a ranked team, and I don't care how many of their guys will be out of the game," Sutton said. "I know it's going to be an emotional game for the guys who will be playing."

Kevin Pangos scored 14 points to pace the Bulldogs, who improved to 6-2 this season and 93-7 in the McCarthey Athletic Center since it was opened in November 2004.

Gonzaga received four points from Ryan Spangler, a 6-foot-7 freshman from Blanchard, Okla., who was recruited heavily by the Eagles before committing to the Bulldogs.

[SWZag]

Thanks, ZN. Always appreciate the links!

SWZag

[ZagNative]

You're welcome, SWZag!

There are some interesting tidbits in this AP story.

Young pups lead Gonzaga to win over Oral Roberts
....
Pangos led Gonzaga (6-2) with 14 points and seven assists. Bell defended Oral Roberts star Dominique Morrison for much of the game and held the senior to 13 points and 4-for-12 shooting.

“He’s a strong player,” said Bell, who scored six points in his second start of the season. “An NBA prospect, I heard. I think I did pretty good on him. I made his shots tough. That’s all you can do. If he makes a tough shot, he makes a tough shot.”

Gonzaga had a 40-25 advantage in rebounds. However, the bigger Bulldogs held just a 24-22 advantage in points in the paint, and Oral Roberts enjoyed an 11-6 edge in second-chance points.

[ZagNative]

Howie Stallwick, in the News-Tribune:

Kentridge grad helps Zags win

SPOKANE – Mark Few is throwing Gary Bell Jr. into the fire, and so far, Bell appears to be wearing an asbestos suit.

Bell passed another major test in his second start for Gonzaga, and the freshman guard out of Kentridge High School played a key role in the Bulldogs’ 67-61 win over Oral Roberts on Thursday night at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

After giving Bell his first college start Saturday against talented Michigan State, Few assigned Bell to guard Oral Roberts star Dominique Morrison most of the game.

Morrison, an athletic, 6-foot-6 wing, made just 4 of 12 shots and finished three points below his season average with 13. The 6-1 Bell had just six points after scoring 13 against Michigan State, but it was all about the defense for Few.

“Gary will give you a great effort,” Few said. “He’s really, really sound against coverages, screens and pick-on balls.

“He’s very advanced for a freshman, defensively.”

Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/1...#ixzz1gjVdK4CP

[Baldwinzag]

Howie Stallwick, in the News-Tribune:

Enjoyed the article --

There was one particular possession last night where Gary Bell fought through 3 , yes 3 ball screens and never required one switch, all the while, he continually defended his man and forced a shaky pass. After he side-stepped his way around the 3rd consecutive ball screen I jumped up and yelled loudly! It was a sight to see! My wife couldn't understand my excitement as she watches mostly the shots going in the net, yet for me, I was more excited than any 3-ball or alley-oop of late.

Coach Few is right, the kid can play defense with the best of 'em.

[ZagNative]

Gonzaga Bulletin does its usual nice job in this game story by Matt Snyder.

I always look forward to the Bulletin's great game pics by Jake Kelly. Here's a nice one from yesterday's game.

The Bulldogs employed a full-court press to help spearhead a 19-2 run to close out the first half with a 37-29 advantage. Freshman Gary Bell, Jr. was often at the head of the press.

"We basically wanted to make them take as much time off the shot clock as possible," Bell said. "When they finally got across half court, they'd already spent nine or 10 seconds, so we did our job there. If we didn't get a steal, we at least wanted to force them to start their offense late in the clock. Most of the time, we forced them to start at around 20 seconds remaining."

The Bulldogs maintained a comfortable cushion for the first portion of the second half, only to see the Golden Eagles mount a furious comeback that culminated in a Dominique Morrison midrange jumper, which cut the Zags' lead to 59-57.

Up stepped redshirt junior Mike Hart, who swished a 3-pointer from the right wing to push the lead back to five.

"That felt great," Hart said. "I was a little frustrated, since I went in to get a defensive stop and my guy went out and scored on me. I just wanted to get that back for our team."

"That shot came in crunch time," Few said. "[Hart] spent all summer and all fall working on his shooting. He makes them in practice; he makes them all the time. It feels good to see him rewarded with all the lights on."

Bell followed with a 3-pointer of his own to stretch the lead to 65-59. He was assisted by David Stockton, who had five on the night. Another of those assists was for freshman guard Kevin Pangos, whose 3-pointer with 10:13 remaining stretched Gonzaga's lead to 54-44.

Pangos, who led Gonzaga with 14 points and seven assists, spoke of the chemistry he's forged with Stockton on the court so far this season.

"It's just cool because we both think of basketball the same way," he said. "We were both on the same page on that play."

"We want Kevin to be a little more aggressive," Few said. "We talked to him about that this week, and I think he did a nice job."

[ZagNative]

Meehan's Day-After post is chuck-full of goodies.

—We’ll start with Mike Hart, the junior forward who hadn’t made a 3-pointer since the 2009-2010 season. One of those came against Augustana early on and the other came in WCC play against Portland. He missed all four of his 3-point attempts last season and was 0 of 6 this season before draining one of GU’s biggest shots of the season, a trey from the wing that gave the Bulldogs a 62-57 lead with 3:20 left.

“He spent all summer shooting, all fall,” head coach Mark Few said. “He just needs to be rewarded with the lights on. Both he and Marquise are good shooters. It’s like baseball. You hit 10 line drives and they get caught and all of a sudden you look up and you’re 0 for 10. They kind of need to shoot their way out of it.”

Carter is still working on that part. He was 1 of 4 last night, the make a put-back layup, and he missed both of his 3-point attempts. He’s 1 of 11 on 3s for the season. He got pulled late in the second half after back-to-back turnovers, part of an unsightly stretch where GU had five turnovers in six possessions.

He’s keeping a positive outlook. Shortly after the game he tweeted: “Good win! Still can’t throw it in the ocean all good tho.” And later: “My head always up, just a little frustrating.”

—Turnovers have been a stumbling block for several games. The frustrating part for the coaching staff is that often they’re unforced and they’re committed against teams that don’t specialize in high-pressure defense. Oral Roberts fits into that category, but GU still had 17 turnovers that led to the Golden Eagles’ 22-12 edge in points of turnovers.

“These turnovers just come in the most bizarre fashion,” Few said. “A lot of them aren’t forced, they’re just plays at the end of a fast break or throwing the ball inbounds against a press when we have an arsenal of timeouts. We’ve been trying to tell them it’s the context. We turn it over and we have to be careful with the next few plays, but I think they’re thinking, ‘It wasn’t me, so watch this.’ We’re addressing it, but we’ve got to figure that thing out.”

—Freshman forward Ryan Spangler provided a nice boost off the bench, scoring four points and grabbing three rebounds in nine minutes. His playing time had been limited – 24 minutes in four appearances. He had DNPs vs. Michigan State and Illinois, but he was ready when he got the call early in Thursday’s game, in part because the Zags were struggling on the glass.

He made a jumper from the free-throw line and helped GU turn-around the boards.

“I just have to keep practicing hard and try to earn more minutes,” he said. “When I do get in I have to be productive and be an energy guy. And once they can start trusting me a little more, maybe I’ll get a few more minutes.”

Spangler is from Blanchard, Okla., and Oral Roberts offered him a scholarship late in his freshman season of high school.

“I really liked coach (Scott) Sutton and it was close to home, but I couldn’t pass up (Gonzaga’s) offer,” he said. “There were a lot of folks at home watching (on TV). My parents had a bit of a party, 30-35 people over watching.”

Said Few: “I’ve really been disappointed in myself. I’ve been trying to get Ryan into those games because he can help us, but we’ve just been in all these gut-wrenchers and some of them have been hard matchups for him. This was a good matchup for him and he showed what he can do. And it was good to get Sam (Dower) back playing.”

See Jim's post for more.

[gamagin]

Thanks, ZN

for the continued top shelf reports ferreted out and shared by you. As usual.

[bballbeachbum]

since I missed the game, having all this press lined up in one thread is awesome ZagNative, saves me tons of time and also delivers the goods.

you are