Gonzaga rewind: Bulldogs put clamps on Loyola Marymount’s Cam Shelton in runaway win

LOS ANGELES – With the pedigree of former Gonzaga players occupying courtside seats Thursday night at Gersten Pavilion, it’s no wonder the Bulldogs manufactured one of their top offensive outings of the season in a 108-65 rout of Loyola Marymount.

Two of the most accomplished scorers in program history attended Thursday’s game in working roles, while one of the most unique offensive players to come through Mark Few’s program took in the action as a fan.

One week removed from having his jersey honored at McCarthey Athletic Center, former Gonzaga guard Dan Dickau, who once scored 34 points and made nine 3-pointers in a single half at LMU, worked Thursday’s game in a broadcasting role for CBS Sports Network.

Adam Morrison, the only GU player to score 900 points in one season, sat three chairs down from Dickau while partnering with Tom Hudson on the Zags’ radio call. Morrison’s top game against LMU was a 44-point outing on Feb. 18, 2006.

A one-year phenom for the Bulldogs, Chet Holmgren shot a commercial in Los Angeles Thursday morning and meandered over to LMU’s campus to watch his former college teammates in person for the first time since leaving Gonzaga last March for the NBA draft.

Even at the height of their college powers, a lineup with Dickau, Morrison and Holmgren might have struggled to match the offensive numbers Gonzaga put up through the first 20 minutes of Thursday’s game.

The Bulldogs shot 71.1% from the field, 77.8% on 3-pointers, 100% from the free-throw line and committed just one turnover while establishing a 40-point halftime lead.

Offense may not have been the most impressive aspect of Gonzaga’s first half, either.

In our next-day rewind, we focus on Gonzaga’s defense and examine why Julian Strawther’s recent form is a positive development as the Bulldogs inch toward the postseason.

Shutting off Shelton

On the game’s opening possession, Gonzaga denied Loyola Marymount from getting a quality look at the basket, trapping star point guard Cam Shelton until the West Coast Conference’s top scorer was forced to heave a desperation 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock.

It usually takes 40 minutes of sustained effort on the defensive end to shut down a player of Shelton’s caliber and the Zags were willing to put in the work .

“I’d say this week was one of the most locked in on defense we’ve been for a scout,” Strawther said. “Obviously, we worked on our offense, but we were really locking down on defense and back in Spokane, we kind of just let him do whatever he wanted on ball screens and he didn’t have much pressure on him.

“We made sure we’re going to get the ball out of his hands and make everyone else beat us.”

The Zags used a variety of coverages, frequently trapping the senior guard with two players to prevent him from making plays out of the backcourt.

Gonzaga had a 39-point lead by the time Shelton made his first shot of the field with 1 minute, 9 seconds remaining in the opening half.

Shelton’s seven shot attempts were his fewest in any game since late November and came after the Chino, California, native attempted 25 shots against Santa Clara and 26 against Saint Mary’s.

“We just switched up our coverages and dedicated a lot of people to him,” GU coach Mark Few said. “Basically trying to get the ball out of his hands or at least really keeping a lot of bodies around him.”

Shelton finished 3 of 7 from the field and 6 of 8 from the free-throw line for 15 points. He entered the contest averaging 26 points over his past eight games before being held under 20 points for just the second time since Jan. 12.

“I feel like we did a great job,” Strawther said. “Those guys that are guarding him, ‘Ra’ (Rasir Bolton), Nolan (Hickman), Hunter (Sallis), they all did an amazing job of staying on his body and frustrating him.

“He looked really frustrated and uncomfortable out there, so I’m just super proud of them.”

The Strawther factor

When voting on Gonzaga’s most valuable player, it would be difficult to make a case for anyone other than scoring and rebounding leader Drew Timme. Strawther, however, continues to demonstrate why he may be the most important player on the roster.

Timme’s production rarely deviates – he’s averaging 21.5 points in Gonzaga’s 22 wins and 17.8 points in the Bulldogs’ five losses.

The Zags have lost on 22- and 23-point outings from Timme, but they’re 12-0 in games when Strawther matched or exceed his season scoring average (15.1 ppg).

Coming off a 26-point game against BYU, Strawther scored 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and 6 of 8 from the 3-point line .

“He’s definitely playing with more confidence,” Few said. “We’re putting him in a lot more actions now because he’s handling them better, so he’s been on quite a little bit of a roll here. But he’s also been really efficient when he does do it. He’s not really taking any bad shots. He had a couple heat checks tonight and they went in.”

Strawther’s averaging 16.6 ppg in Gonzaga’s wins and 8.6 points in losses. The Bulldogs are 14-0 in games he’s scored at least 14 points. Meanwhile, Strawther was held to 13, four, 10, six and 10 points in losses to Texas, Purdue, Baylor, LMU and Saint Mary’s.

Strawther’s made 10 of 16 3-pointers in GU’s past two games and confirmed the hoop’s looking larger than usual after converting two four-point plays against the Lions .

“It’s looking pretty big,” Strawther said. “I was asking ‘Snacks’ (Zach Norvell Jr.), I didn’t know if me getting fouled on some of these shots means I’m shooting bad ones or not, but they looked good to me and all the guys are passing me the ball with immense confidence and telling me to shoot it when I don’t.

“So it helps when you’ve got a group of guys like that constantly in your ear, telling you to get them up and that they trust me.”

Shortened bench

Late in the game, sophomore center Efton Reid III took a hard fall after being undercut by Kwane Marble II. The 7-foot Gonzaga sophomore center was flipped onto his back by Marble, who was whistled for a flagrant foul with 3:30 remaining.

Reid didn’t return to the floor and was later seen limping out of GU’s locker room with an ice pack attached to his back after the game.

“It was a hard fall,” Few said. “It will all be about how he wakes up tomorrow right now. So he’ll throw a bunch of ice on it and we’ll see how that goes.”

Due to a lack of bench options, the Bulldogs, leading by as many as 51 points in the second half, were forced to close the game with a lineup that included starting point guard Hickman, rotational guards Sallis and Malachi Smith, and walk-on forwards Abe Eagle and Colby Brooks.

Rotation forward Ben Gregg may have been in the closing unit, but he fouled out with approximately 6 minutes remaining. Dominick Harris typically plays in the waning minutes of blowout wins, but the sophomore guard and former four-star prospect didn’t travel with the team due to an illness.

The other members of GU’s traveling squad included redshirting freshman forward Braden Huff and South Korean forward Jun Seok Yeo, who joined the program last month but won’t be eligible to play until the 2023-24 season.