National Basketball Association
Gonzaga 81, San Francisco 72
When: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 7, 2015
Where: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Officials:
# Ronald Brokenbrough, # Klaus Endrissat, # Rob Rorke
Attendance:
N/A
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 7 Gonzaga 81, San Francisco 72: Przemek Karnowski scored a career-high 24 points as the Bulldogs overcame a slow start to oust the Dons in the quarterfinals of the West Coast Conference tournament in Las Vegas.
Kyle Wiltjer scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half and added eight rebounds before leaving with a lower-body injury for No. 1 seed Gonzaga (30-2), which meets fourth-seeded Pepperdine in Monday's semifinals. Kevin Pangos, the WCC Player of the Year, recorded 10 points, five assists and three steals as the Bulldogs bounced back from a 73-70 loss to BYU that snapped their 22-game win streak by shooting 75 percent in the second half and 52.7 for the game.
Tim Derksen and Mark Tollefsen scored 21 points apiece while collecting 10 and eight rebounds, respectively, for San Francisco (14-18), which won five of its previous six games since an 81-70 loss to Gonzaga on Feb. 7. Freshman Devin Watson added 17 points for the Dons, who were 6-for-22 from 3-point range.
Gonzaga, which leads the nation in field-goal percentage at 52.4, shot 35.5 percent in the first half as San Francisco used a 17-4 run - with Derksen contributing eight points - to take a 29-22 lead 1:55 prior to intermission. Karnowski's three-point play and Domantas Sabonis' bucket closed the gap to 29-27 at the break.
The Bulldogs drew even three times but did not take the lead until Wiltjer's bucket with 13:05 remaining put them ahead for good 43-41 and a 19-2 run - highlighted by nine points from Wiltjer - gave Gonzaga a 55-41 lead with 9:57 left. The Bulldogs continued to pour it on as Kyle Dranginis' 3-pointer extended the advantage to 58-42 with 9:16 to go, and after Wiltjer was injured with 5:10 left and Gonzaga ahead 64-52, San Francisco could only get as close as seven.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Gonzaga has defeated San Francisco seven straight times by an average of 16.1 points. ... The Bulldogs have won 28 straight against Pepperdine, including a 78-76 victory in Malibu and a 56-48 win in Spokane this season. ... Gonzaga improved to 45-15 in the WCC tournament and is bidding to reach the final for the 18th straight year.
Top Game Performances
San Francisco |
|
Gonzaga |
Tim Derksen 21 |
Scoring |
Przemek Karnowski 24 |
Devin Watson 3 |
Assists |
Kevin Pangos 5 |
Tim Derksen 10 |
Rebounds |
Kyle Wiltjer 8 |
Devin Watson 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Przemek Karnowski 4 |
Tim Derksen 2 |
Steals |
Kevin Pangos 3 |
Kruize Pinkins 1 |
Blocks |
Przemek Karnowski 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
San Francisco
|
72 |
36.9 |
6-22 |
18-23 |
12 |
32 |
2 |
9 |
14 |
Gonzaga
|
81 |
52.7 |
7-21 |
16-24 |
19 |
34 |
6 |
7 |
16 |