Big men for a big game
SALT LAKE CITY – Perhaps the most intriguing matchup in tonight’s second-round NCAA tournament showdown between Gonzaga and Indiana will be the low-post test of strength between the Bulldogs’ J.P. Batista and the Hoosiers’ Marco Killingsworth, a pair of senior centers with court-tilting size.
GU’s Batista, a 6-foot-9, 269-pounder, gets the edge in the Tale of the Tape – but only by an inch and a pound over the Hoosiers’ Killingsworth.
“It should be a fun matchup, because we’re both big guys,” Killingworth said Friday during an off-day press conference leading up to today’s 5:10 p.m. PST contest between the third-seeded Zags (28-3) and sixth-seeded Hoosiers (19-11) in the Huntsman Center.
“I’m really looking forward to it. I just hope (the officials) let us play.”
So does Batista, a low-blocks banger affectionately known by his teammates as the “Brazilian Beast.”
“I know he’s a load,” he said of Killingsworth, who is averaging 17.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, both team highs. “It’s going to be a battle. I think our games are similar. He put up big numbers this year, but he’s going to have to put up with me, too.”
This should be the type of lean-on-me, to-heck-with-finesse affair both bigs prefer.
Batista, who is averaging 19.3 points and a team-best 9.4 rebounds, said he likes playing against someone he can keep track of inside, instead of the long, slender post players who rely more on their agility and quickness to get to the basket.
“I like playing against guys just like me,” he explained. “He’s going to body me up, and I’m going to try to do the same against him. I’m much more comfortable playing that way.”
GU coach Mark Few would like to see the officials swallow their whistles during tonight’s game and let the two big men have at each other.
“Just let them see who’s best,” Few said.
But Indiana’s Mike Davis said he would prefer to see Batista whistled for five fouls in the first half.
“He’s really a good basketball player,” Davis said of the Zags’ All-West Coast Conference center, who is shooting 59.6 percent (218 of 366) from the field and seems to have recovered almost completely from the knee strain and thigh bruise he suffered in the semifinals of the WCC tournament.
“He’s a tough matchup, and they have a really good inside-out game because of him.”
Killingsworth, a second-team All-Big Ten Conference selection, is shooting 54.5 percent (205 of 376) from the field and presents an unusual challenge for some opponents because he is left-handed.
“It’s something different,” Batista admitted, “but both of San Francisco’s big men were left-handed, so I’ve had to adjust to it before. You just have to focus on the scouting report and make sure you don’t play him on the wrong side and let him spin the way he wants to.”
Batista said he is more concerned with Killingsworth’s ability to take a pass inside, kick it back out and re-post closer to the basket.
“That’s the main thing he does, and he’s really good at it,” Batista noted. “It’s going to be difficult to guard him, but we have to find a way.
“He’s just as strong as me, so we’ll just have to see who’s feeling it (Saturday) night.”
Few admitted Killingsworth will be a load to deal with on the low blocks, but said he is more comfortable with having Batista guard someone down there than dealing with a fast player on the perimeter.
“No question about it,” he said. “It’s easier for J.P. than having a 5-man that goes around shooting 3s off a screen.”
Batista said Killingsworth reminds him – on video, at least – of Memphis’ Joey Dorsey, a 6-9, 265-pound sophomore, who finished with four points and eight rebounds in the Tigers’ 83-72 home win over the Zags in late December.
“Obviously, his numbers are great,” Batista added. “But the film shows he doesn’t run as much, so we might be able to outrun him.
“No matter what we do, he’s going to be a challenge.
“But I hope I’m going to be a challenge for him, too.”