Rillie Finds Hoop; Zags Triumph

The guy doing the bad John Rillie impersonation finally went away.

He looked uncannily similar to the senior Gonzaga guard, but his errant jump shots gave him away as he made only one of his last 16 3-point attempts.

Before anyone could check dental records or fingerprints, the guy who is really Rillie reappeared Saturday, knocking down five 3-pointers and scoring 25 points to lead GU to a 93-67 runaway win over Pepperdine.

“That was vintage John Rillie,” said GU coach Dan Fitzgerald. “He’s been kind of a bricklayer out there a little bit, but he was really pulling the trigger tonight. To see him come back and knock down some big, tough shots was really nice.”

The win was the second straight after six consecutive West Coast Conference losses for the 13-7 Bulldogs. They’re not out of the WCC cellar, but they have a couple of roommates in Loyola Marymount and San Francisco.

“That team played as well tonight as any team I’ve seen in this league,” Pepperdine coach Tony Fuller said after seeing his team fall to 3-5 and 7-13.

Although five Bulldogs scored in double figures and all 11 who played made positive contributions, this win was a tribute to Rillie.

Viewed as the league’s most dangerous shooter, Rillie opened the season with several brilliant games. But since the Air Force game in late December, he’s not scored above 12 points in any outing.

Apparently with his radar recalibrated, Rillie netted his first five 3-point attempts - all displaying that handsome, high-release parabola that is characteristic of his shots.

The return of Rillie seemed to inspire the Bulldogs, who jetted to a 25-point lead in the first half.

“People definitely fed off that,” said GU forward Jon Kinloch, who added 20 points and five rebounds. “We all knew he was going to have a big game soon. A lot of people have been quick to jump on him, but he wasn’t playing badly, (opponents) were just playing good defense on him.”

So how did Rillie dispose of the imposter?

“Maybe in some of those other games I was concentrating too much,” he said. “Tonight, maybe, I was just a little more relaxed and that helped everything work out for the good.”

And once his first two efforts from the deep, deep backcourt hit bottom, “the confidence got going a little bit,” he said.

“Rillie was on fire, (David) Cole gave us good minutes and then Kinloch made some very good decisions down the stretch; this was a good weekend for us,” said Fitzgerald, referring, also, to Thursday’s win over LMU.

In front of a homecoming crowd of 3,902, GU unfurled the 1994 WCC championship banner. And, at least for the evening, the Bulldogs looked good enough to challenge for another.

Committing only nine turnovers, GU also got double-figure production from Cole (13 points, including 3-for-3 shooting of 3-pointers), Kyle Dixon (11 points) and Paul Rogers (10 points).

“We got good play from everybody who came in,” Kinloch said. “And when that happens, we’re a pretty hard team to beat. It seems like we kinda got the boat turned around and going in the right direction.”

And not sinking.

“This was a real make-it or breakit weekend for us,” said Rillie, who also had five assists. “We won two in a row and that gets us going and gives us something to build on.”

The only concern heading into next week’s games at Pepperdine and LMU is the health of Dixon, who strained muscles near his ankle in a spill late in the game. He is expected to be able to play on the upcoming road trip.

GU even healed its free-throw shooting woes in the second half Saturday. Making only 13 of 30 in the second half Thursday, and 10 of 17 in the first half against Pepperdine, the Bulldogs netted 12 of 13 in the final 20 minutes.

“Maybe we ought to start shooting our free throws from the 3-point line,” Fitzgerald suggested.

Gonzaga 93, Pepperdine 67

PEPPERDINE (7-13)

Hervey 1-3 0-0 2, Brown 8-18 0-0 19, Vanderputten 2-6 3-4 7, James 2-6 4-5 8, Maraccini 3-10 0-0 9, Holcomb 0-1 1-2 1, Merrill 0-4 2-2 2, O’Brien 1-3 1-2 3, Powell 4-8 0-0 8, Ramirez 3-6 0-0 8. Totals 24-65 11-15 67.

GONZAGA (13-7)

Dixon 3-5 5-7 11, Rillie 8-11 4-4 25, Rogers 4-8 2-6 10, Kinloch 6-12 5-6 20, Rubright 1-4 0-0 2, Morgan 2-3 2-2 6, Nemeth 0-0 0-0 0, Cole 4-6 2-2 13, Bond 0-0 2-2 2, Snider 2-4 0-1 4, Williams 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 30-55 22-30 93.

Halftime-Gonzaga 48, Pepperdine 27. 3-Point goals- Pepperdine 8-23 (Brown 3-5, Maraccini 3-6, Merrill 0-3, Powell 0-4, Ramirez 2-5), Gonzaga 11-20 (Dixon 0-1, Rillie 5-7, Kinloch 3-7, Rubright 0-1, Cole 3-3, Williams 0-1). Fouled out-Powell. Rebounds-Pepperdine 35 (Brown 7), Gonzaga 39 (Kinloch, Snider 5). Assists-Pepperdine 7 (Hervey, Powell 2), Gonzaga 15 (Dixon 4). Total fouls-Pepperdine 26, Gonzaga 13. A-3,902.