No. 4 Gonzaga takes perfect mark into Portland
Fourth-ranked Gonzaga must try to motivate itself to play at a high level when it competes against West Coast Conference opponents. The Bulldogs, the lone unbeaten team in the nation with a 19-0 record, again have that task Monday (8 p.m. ET) at Portland only two days after they struggled but defeated the Pilots 73-52 in Spokane, Wash. Monday's game originally was scheduled to be played on Jan. 7 but was postponed because of inclement weather that included snow and freezing rain in Portland, Ore. Gonzaga leads the WCC with a 7-0 record. Portland, which is without top scorer Alec Wintering for the rest of the season because of a knee injury, is 9-10 and 5-5. The Pilots are one of five WCC teams with a .500 record or worse overall. Saint Mary's is the only other ranked team in the conference at No. 23. No other WCC teams even received votes in the latest AP Top 25 poll. Gonzaga defeated Portland by 21 points on Saturday despite outrebounded 41-33. The Bulldogs also had only two fast-break points and shot 31.8 percent from 3-point range. It was Portland's first game without Wintering, a guard who was averaging 19.5 points a game. "It was kind of a choppy game," said Gonzaga coach Mark Few, who is 34-2 against the Pilots. "Portland did a nice job, especially being undermanned, of coming in here and fighting us, playing us physical and beating us to some balls. "But a 20-point win at home is nothing to not feel good about." Portland, which has lost seven consecutive games to Gonzaga, trailed by seven points with 16:20 left in regulation after trailing by as many as 13 points in the first half. The Bulldogs pulled away by outscoring Portland 29-11 midway through the second half. While Gonzaga will make it a mission to improve its rebounding performance, Portland will attempt to take better care of the ball. The Pilots committed 16 turnovers with only four assists in Saturday's loss. "We probably had more turnovers than I would like," said first-year Portland head coach Terry Porter, a former NBA player and coach. "We try to stay at that 13 or under range." Porter attributed the amount of turnovers to the team's new guard rotation with Wintering out. Guards Jazz Johnson, Andre Ferguson and Rashad Jackson combined for seven turnovers and only two assists. "Sometimes when you lose your leader like that, it wipes you out," Porter said of Wintering. "But the guys responded well with a great effort. We knew it was going to be a tall task. I loved the way we fought and got after it." A major concern for Few is the health of starting point guard Nigel Williams-Goss, who left the locker room Saturday night on crutches. He landed awkwardly on his left hip with a little less than five minutes remaining. The Bulldogs' leading scorer, Williams-Goss hobbled directly to the training room. "At the time (it happened), it was a lot of pain," said Williams-Goss, who averages 15 points and 4.7 assists per game. "I couldn't put a lot of pressure on my left leg. A couple days of treatment, I think I should be good." |