Gonzaga rewind: Zags solve USF’s defensive tactics, Malik Thomas shut down and WCC tournament pairings

SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Dons accomplished something that no other West Coast Conference team has done this season against Gonzaga.

The Dons became the first WCC team to outscore GU in the paint, and rather decidedly at 46-34, in the Zags’ 95-75 victory Saturday at Chase Center. Washington State managed a 46-46 tie in Gonzaga’s 88-75 win in Spokane. GU rolled in the rematch 38-24 in the paint in a blowout win in Pullman five weeks later.

Packing the lane with defenders was the focus of USF’s game plan after Gonzaga, as has been the case in recent series meetings, dominated with a 52-30 edge in paint points and 41-28 advantage on the boards during an 11-point home win Feb. 13.

The Dons sagged off GU 4s Ben Gregg and Michael Ajayi. It worked to a modest degree early as Gregg misfired on his first three 3s, but it failed in the bigger picture. Gregg eventually buried three 3s after getting untracked with some interior baskets.

Even when Gregg wasn’t hitting from the outside, his teammates were, and GU was still productive inside. Graham Ike was 4 of 6 on 2-pointers en route to 15 points and Braden Huff was 4 of 4 while scoring nine. The two posts also made five free throws.

Meanwhile, guards Nolan Hickman, Ryan Nembhard, Khalif Battle and Emmanuel Innocenti chipped in 3s and paint points off the dribble and in transition.

“We looked at our points in the paint the last time and it was pretty heavy so we figured they would cover down,” said Zags coach Mark Few, whose team has seen similar tactics before from USF and other conference opponents. “Their last game they covered down really hard and Oregon State has some nice big players.”

The Zags do, too, along with a strong guard line. That doesn’t leave a ton of appealing options defensively, particularly if Gonzaga is hitting 3s.

“The one thing I know about them when they see the same thing continuously, they have a way of adjusting and taking advantage of it,” San Francisco coach Chris Gerlufsen said. “We made a decision to change the plan and hopefully try to protect the paint. But I’ll be honest, our defense was too porous.

“They scored at a high percentage in the paint and in two-point range. When you let a road team go 11 of 24 from 3 it’s going to be a long night.”

Only Arizona State (42-32) and Kentucky (48-44) have outscored Gonzaga in the lane this season. The Zags handled ASU 88-80 and lost to the Wildcats 90-89 in overtime, essentially matching their season average of 87.6 points in both games.

Defense does its part

Meanwhile, Gonzaga had an interesting night defensively. The Zags clamped down on WCC scoring leader Malik Thomas and Dons not named Marcus Williams in the first half while building a 46-31 halftime lead.

“(Thomas) has been a good player all year,” said Nembhard, one of several defenders that saw time on Thomas. “We were just physical with him, tried to run him off the 3s and make him go downhill and make tough shots over our bigs. It was a whole group effort.”

USF heated up in the second half with 44 points but the damage was already done. Thomas reached double figures with 13 points, but he missed 14 of 18 field-goal attempts. Williams responded from a tough night in Spokane (nine points, 2 of 12 from field) with a season-high 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting. He added five assists.

The Dons, second only to Santa Clara in 3-pointers made and attempted, were a chilly 3 of 18 behind the arc – a season low for makes and their third fewest attempts.

Thomas was just 1 of 6 from deep and teammates other than Williams went 0 of 10.

“We had the right guys on him for the most part,” Few said. “He can score at all three levels. His pull-up game is solid and he’s so strong, great finisher and draws a lot of fouls. We were fortunate to do a good job on him.”

Freshman Tyrone Riley IV scored 11 points, but USF’s options were limited, especially after guard Ryan Beasley exited with an injury late in the first half.

WCC Tournament pairings

Gonzaga clinched the second seed with Saturday’s victory and will face an opponent in the semifinals that it hasn’t lost to this season. San Francisco has the shortest path, needing just a quarterfinal win to set up a third matchup with the Zags next Monday at approximately 8:30 p.m. at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

On GU’s side of the bracket, No. 10 Pacific faces No. 11 San Diego on Thursday with the winner taking on No. 7 Loyola Marymount on Friday. No. 6 Washington State awaits Friday’s winner on Saturday with the winner advancing to meet USF in Sunday’s quarterfinals.

Gonzaga is 8-0 against the five possible semifinal opponents with the closest margin 11 points against San Francisco in mid -February. The championship game is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday.