Gonzaga rewind: Anton Watson throws down poster dunk, climbs record books during Jackson State win
Gonzaga quelled many of its issues Wednesday night in another resounding home win against a school from the SWAC.
But no different than most teams at this juncture of the season, the Bulldogs still have a fairly long list of items they’ll need to address upon returning from holiday break ahead of a marquee home game against San Diego State.
The most pressing item?
Gonzaga shot less than 30% on 3-pointers for the fourth time in as many games, connecting on 5 of 18 (27%) against Jackson State after making 16% against UConn, 20% against Mississippi Valley State and 27% against Washington.
The perimeter shooting issues were probably easier to overlook during a game in which Gonzaga still managed to hit the century mark, outscoring its opponent 50-14 in the paint, making 27 free throws and generally taking care of the ball, with 20 assists and only eight turnovers.
Anton Watson is the focal point of our day-after rewind following another balanced game that saw the senior forward deliver a highlight dunk and climb another spot on Gonzaga’s all-time steals list.
Watson winds up
By the midway point of the second half, Jackson State forward Jordan O’Neal had initiated a few verbal exchanges with players in Gonzaga uniforms, potentially in an effort to stir up the Zags.
So they didn’t mind that it was O’Neal who attempted, and failed, to make a defensive play on Watson at the rim with approximately 15 minutes remaining in Wednesday’s game.
Watson got the final word when he received a three-quarters-court pass from Ryan Nembhard, took two strides, elevated and beat O’Neal to the rim, punching home a dunk with his right hand.
“Oh man, very much appreciative of that,” GU junior forward Graham Ike said. “(O’Neal) was jawing all game and for (Watson) to get him back like that, that’s nasty. You could just see it leading up from halfcourt, the way he was running. It was great, man.”
Watson saw O’Neal retreating to the rim when he collected Nembhard’s pass, but the Spokane native didn’t hesitate before throwing down a dunk that elicited a strong reaction from Gonzaga’s bench and just about every fan inside McCarthey Athletic Center.
“Once I was gathering my steps, I could see him out the corner of my eye kind of load up and at that point you’ve just got to go for it,” Watson said. “Usually, I win those battles, I feel like.”
The fifth-year senior forward had a similar crowd-stirring dunk last season against Kentucky at the Arena, but the only defender in the area, Wildcats star big man Oscar Tshiebwe, wisely elected not to challenge Watson at the rim.
“The one against Kentucky, there was not really contact,” Watson said. “He kind of got out of the way, so it was a little different.”
New-look WCC?
Few was leaving a pregame shootaround at the Kennel Wednesday afternoon when someone notified him about reports that Washington State and Oregon State would be joining the West Coast Conference as short-term affiliate members in the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons.
Gonzaga’s longtime coach didn’t have much time to process the news, learn the fine points of the reports or form any kind of opinion before the Bulldogs tipped off against Jackson State at 6 p.m.
“I really don’t. Nobody even gave me a heads up on it or anything,” Few said when asked if he had an opinion about the news. “I got the news probably when I walked out of shootaround. Someone told me and I’m like, ‘Come on.’ I’ll have to look at the details of it and see, so tough to give you much thought or opinion since I haven’t really read the details or anything. So I’ll try to study up on that.”
More details should emerge in the coming days. The Cougars and Beavers would participate in all WCC-sponsored sports, with the exception of football and baseball, and would be eligible to compete in conference tournaments and earn at-large NCAA Tournament berths.
Although nothing has materialized, Gonzaga has spent a handful of years exploring conference options outside of the WCC, so Few is accustomed to answering questions about reports or rumors surrounding the school’s conference affiliation.
“(Athletic director) Chris (Standiford) will hopefully fill me in on it,” Few said. “It’s always something with this conference alignment or realignment stuff. So yeah, I don’t know … you guys probably know more than I do.”
Stealing No. 2
Watson did more than submit an application for dunk of the season on Wednesday night.
Coming off a 20-point game against UConn, the former Gonzaga Prep star finished with a well-rounded stat line of 10 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals.
Watson, who’s averaged 1.4 steals per game this season, needed just one to catch Josh Perkins for No. 2 in the Bulldogs’ record book, but he managed to surpass the former Gonzaga standout guard with his second steal of the game – and 179th of his career – just 2 minutes into the second half .
It took Perkins 145 career games to record 178 steals, but Watson got there in 127 games and might be broaching 200 had it not been for a injury that cut his freshman season in half.
Watson, who’s in his final season of eligibility at Gonzaga, won’t have a chance to catch the program’s all-time steals leader, John Stockton, who racked up 262 in only four seasons and 107 college games.
Watson would need to average roughly four steals per game the remainder of the season to have a shot catching Stockton, a fellow Spokane product who coached the Gonzaga senior on an AAU team in the eighth grade.
“I just pride myself a lot on defense, so I’m proud of that, but that’s not like a record I was trying to chase,” Watson said. “It’s something that just kind of happens with how I play, but yeah, it feels good to be under (Stockton).”