Malachi Smith, Hunter Sallis come up big off Gonzaga’s bench; UCLA’s Mick Cronin takes jab at officiating

LAS VEGAS – Drew Timme turned the tables in Thursday’s postgame news conference and asked the media to direct questions at Malachi Smith, who was a major factor in Gonzaga’s victory over UCLA.

“He had a hell of a game,” Timme reasoned.

Smith finished with 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and a big steal in the closing seconds. He had three 3-pointers, 11 points and five boards in GU’s 84-81 win over TCU in the second round.

The defensive efforts of Smith and sophomore Hunter Sallis on UCLA guards Tyger Campbell and Amari Bailey were crucial as the Zags rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit.

Campbell and Bailey combined for 26 points in the first half but just seven in the final 20 minutes.

“Coach (Mark Few) tells us that we can come in off the bench and provide a spark on defense,” Smith said. “In the first half, coach was saying that’s not how we play. I just wanted to have an impact and just help slow those guys down. It was a total team effort, but I just really take pride on the defensive end.”

Few went to his bench after the Zags’ struggled with ball-screen coverage and defending UCLA’s isolation plays in the first half. GU starting guards Nolan Hickman and Rasir Bolton had four assists but were scoreless in 38 combined minutes.

Smith and Sallis combined for all seven of Gonzaga’s first-half bench points. They made a bigger impact in the second half, with Smith logging 16 minutes and Sallis 15. Their 19 combined points were 15 more than UCLA’s bench production.

They had the team’s best plus/minus stats with Smith at plus-13 and Sallis at plus-12.

“That makes us so scary, because if our starters don’t have it we can come in and we can do it or all of us are on,” Smith said. “A lot of teams in the country don’t have nine players that can come in and contribute and contribute at a high level.”

Sallis scored five points in the opening half. He finished with five rebounds and didn’t commit a turnover during a pressure-packed second half. His length and athleticism were factors in limiting opportunities for UCLA’s talented guards.

“I started off on Tyger, down the stretch I switched to Amari,” Sallis said. “Really the big key was stop letting them get downhill.

“They’re really good guards and they got downhill, tried to create for others and they were getting their own shots. So that’s what I tried to stop.”

Cronin upset with officiating

UCLA coach Mick Cronin wasn’t pleased when he took a seat to field questions from the media after the Bruins’ narrow loss.

“My opening statement is it took 33 minutes to get me in here, which is ridiculous,” said Cronin, who followed the media session of Gonzaga’s players and coach Few.

Cronin’s mood didn’t improve when asked about the Bruins’ second-half dry spell on offense, including a span of 11 minutes, 20 seconds between field goals as Gonzaga surged in front.

“A lot of open shots that didn’t go down,” he said. “There’s no hindsight. Wide-open shots and multiple times we got fouled, no call. Dave (Singleton) and Tyger didn’t make a basket in the second half. They had good looks. And Jaime (Jaquez Jr.) got murdered on about four layups.”

The Bruins shot 9 of 30 from the field (30%) and 9 of 12 at the foul line in the second half.