Gonzaga, Portland ready for second matchup in three days

Time will tell if the scouting reports need updating for Gonzaga and Portland, even though the two teams just met Saturday in Spokane.

The teams tangle again Monday at the Chiles Center, a meeting that was supposed to take place Jan. 7 but was postponed due to inclement weather.

Gonzaga guard Nigel Williams-Goss left Saturday’s 73-52 win after taking a hard fall on his hip with just under 5 minutes left and didn’t return.

Williams-Goss joined the team on Sunday’s flight to Portland. The Zags believe he has a chance to play but won’t make a final decision until Monday.

No. 4 Gonzaga (19-0, 7-0 WCC) had its hands full against the Pilots (9-10, 2-5) before pulling away in the final 10 minutes. Portland was without standout senior point guard Alec Wintering, who suffered a torn ACL in the Pilots’ loss to San Francisco on Thursday.

“They came in here and fought us and did a nice job competing against us,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “And I would expect nothing but that on Monday.”

Portland won the boards, 41-33, but struggled to score with Wintering, who averages 19.5 points, on the bench. Gonzaga heated up in the second half, making 11 of 17 two-point attempts and shooting 52 percent overall.

“We had a pretty good stretch of games where we were rebounding pretty well as a team,” center Przemek Karnowski said. “We just have to work on it and be on top of it (Monday).”