TV take: Turnovers doomed Washington State in revived rivalry series with Gonzaga
It has been almost 10 years since the Washington State and Gonzaga men had matched up on the basketball court. But little in college athletics is the same as it was in December 2015, the last time the schools about 80 miles apart played.
One huge change is conference realignment. The upshot of which, in this part of the world anyway, means the schools are in the same conference for a couple of seasons. The first West Coast Conference battle happened Saturday night, as the Cougars brought a 13-4 record into a McCarthey Athletic Center showdown with the No. 18 Bulldogs.
The result was the same as it was a decade ago, though, as the Zags pulled away in the second half and coasted to an 88-75 win before 6,000 folks, including for the first time in a while, the Kennel Club.
The local rivalry was carried locally by KHQ, with two of the three usual Gonzaga broadcast team, Greg Heister on play-by-play and Richard Fox with the analysis, bringing it to Inland Northwest fans.
What they saw …
• The defenses surprised early, considering both teams came in averaging more than 80 points a game.
Part of it was Gonzaga unveiled a bit of a defensive wrinkle, something Fox noticed quickly. The Zags (14-4, 5-0 WCC) guarded Dane Erikstrup, a 6-foot-11 senior who shoots more outside than in, with Khalif Battle, a 6-5 guard.
WSU coach David Riley’s group attacked that matchup early, leading to a two-person takedown, a video replay, 71 seconds in.
Erikstrup and Battle got tied up on the WSU offensive end, with arms interlocked and balance lost. Referee James Duke stopped the play and went to the score table. He and Greg Nixon, joined by Glen Mayberry after a few seconds, viewed the action and decided to not assess anything.
Fox and Heister took the time to reiterate something they covered in pregame, how such rivalry games can be physical.
The scrum did lead to whistles becoming a little more prevalent, however, which didn’t help the short-handed Cougars, who had three starters with two fouls at halftime.
• Heister, who broadcasts some WSU home games as well as just about every GU WCC contest, didn’t ignore the Cougars’ injuries. He listed them all in the opening half, from Cedric Coward to Isaiah Watts, and everything in between.
Later, in the spirit of balance, he and Fox delved into the flu bug that hit the Gonzaga locker room, costing the Zags a couple of players in last week’s win over San Diego and limited the time of some, like Ryan Nembhard, even though he suited up and played.
Nembhard’s time in this one was limited as well, but in part because of another form of illness, foulitis. The senior point guard picked up two quickly and played just 10 minutes.
• Nembhard has been the engine that powers the Zags’ offense, ranked fourth nationally in efficiency by analytics guru Ken Pomeroy. And he had a doppelgänger in the road uniform.
“Folks who love the Zags,” Fox said, “are going to see a lot of what Ryan Nembhard does in (Nate) Calmese.”
The Washington transfer was the more productive point in this one, scoring 20 points, handing out a career-high eight assists and turning it over four times.
Nembhard, limited to 26 minutes, had nine points, five assists and three turnovers.
What we saw …
• One of the more interesting stretches of the game – season, maybe? – came in the first half. With 4 minutes, 42 seconds before halftime, the Cougars’ Kase Wynott lifted up and hit a 3-pointer to give his team a 27-26 lead. The Zags answered with Battle’s 3 on the other end. Erikstrup answered with, yep, a 3. Nolan Hickman answered back. Lejuan Watts on the other end? Another 3.
In 85 seconds, five possessions, five 3-pointers. Five lead changes.
Only the under 4-minute media timeout ended the display of outside shooting. In the final stretch before halftime, Gonzaga hit four 3-pointers in four attempts. The Cougars, four in five.
Gonzaga’s hot streak continued in the second half as Battle nailed another long-range jumper in transition 35 seconds in. That was part of an 8-0 GU run that started the second half – and resulted in a Riley timeout
.
The hot shooting become hell-like, with the Bulldogs put together another 9-0 run as part of a 26-9 stretch in less than 8 minutes that decided it.
“It’s been an avalanche here in the second half for Gonzaga,” Fox understated.
• WSU controlled most of the first half but went into halftimebehind 40-37. The Cougars (3-2 in the WCC) had the ball with time running down trailing by one but turned it over – their 12th of the half – and Gonzaga had the last shot. With Nembhard sitting, Battle brought the ball up. He exploded past half court and finished at the rim. Well, not at the rim. Cut off by 6-10 Ethan Price, he faded to his right side and hooked the ball high off the glass and through as the clock expired.
“You wouldn’t take that shot if you were playing ‘Horse,’ ” Fox said. Make it, though, and I’m pretty sure it would have been worth a letter.
• If you were going to give out letter grades in this one, Hickman would have earned an A. In a season he probably would give himself a C at best.
But he keyed the Zags’ outside attack – they combined to hit 10 of 21 – with five 3-pointers, a season high. He hit 7 of 10 shots, finishing with 19 points. He also filled in at the point with Nembhard sitting and never turned the ball over.
The Cougars’ worst grade wasn’t in shooting or sharing the ball . But they had 12 turnovers in the first half and 16 total.