Gonzaga dominates West Virginia
Guy Landry Edi (10) and Mike Hart (30) of the Gonzaga Bulldogs celebrate against the West Virginia Mountaineers. (March 15, 2012) Credit: Getty Images
PITTSBURGH -- Gonzaga fielded several questions Wednesday about playing in the NCAA Tournament here, far away from home and 75 miles from the campus of their second-round opponent, West Virginia.
Not to worry, they insisted. Such is life for the Spokane, Wash., school, which often has made its postseason marks in distant venues.
When you play for Gonzaga, center Robert Sacre said, "You always have to go somewhere else, in someone else's back yard, no matter if you are a higher seed . . . We're used to it.''
Of course, it helps when you don't give fans inclined to support the home team anything to cheer about.
So it was Thursday night, as Gonzaga controlled the game throughout, winning with surprising ease, 77-54, to advance to a game Saturday against second-seeded Ohio State, a 78-59 winner over Loyola (Md.).
No. 7 seed Gonzaga (26-6) used a 13-0 run to go ahead 27-10 and took a 40-22 edge into halftime, at which point No. 10 West Virginia (19-14) was 1-for-10 on three-point shots, compared to 6-for-10 for the Bulldogs. There was no letup in the second half, when the Zags led by 26.
Gonzaga had promised not to shy from physical play against West Virginia, and did not. West Virginia did not sugarcoat its failings. Guard Darryl Bryant said Gonzaga's guards "out-toughed us. We just let them get going and by the time we stopped them, it was too late.''
Coach Bob Huggins said this edition of the Mountaineers was the "worst defensive team I've ever had in 30 years,'' noting that Gonzaga shot 56 percent from the field. "That's never happened,'' he said.
Later, he added the Mountaineers also are "inept offensively.'' That is a bad combination.
Star senior forward Kevin Jones had 13 points and shot 5-for-14. Four Zags scored in double figures, led by 14 apiece from Sacre and Gary Bell Jr. Gonzaga was 9-for-17 from three-point range.
"That was a great opening game for us,'' coach Mark Few said. "They did a wonderful job taking the scouting report and executing the plan.''
Few said the 13-0 run stemmed from the team's standard man-to-man, which focused primarily on Jones and Bryant. The defense jump-started several scoring opportunities, and Gonzaga never turned back.
"We talked about wanting to be the toughest team,'' Few said. "We knew we couldn't back down from that.''
