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Cold-shooting Gonzaga falls to Indiana

By Vince Grippi
The Spokesman-Review
March 15, 2007

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – One definition of finish is the shine on an object.

Without it, everything is dull.

Gonzaga couldn't finish Thursday night, and that's why its up-and-down season ended on a dull note, with a 70-57 NCAA tournament first-round loss to Indiana University in the Arco Arena.

The Bulldogs shot an anemic 34 percent from the floor, a percentage that was exacerbated by their inability to score around the basket. Time after time GU worked for good shots, and time after time – 12 times by one count – it missed from inside five feet.

"That was the story of the game," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "We missed some breakaway lay-ins, there were three situations I think, where we had breakaways, two-on-ones very early in the second half where we probably could have broken through and taken the lead and either fumbled them away or missed a lay-in.

"Go down the list. I think we all had bunnies that we missed. I've just never seen us miss so many two-footers. A lot of them were uncontested two-footers too."

One play epitomized the Bulldogs' night.

Trailing by eight with 15 minutes, 46 seconds left, Few called time, trying to stem a five-point Indiana mini-run.

The play he called worked, freeing Matt Bouldin for an open five-foot runner. The freshman shot it three feet, part of a 2 of 6 shooting night.

But he wasn't alone. Not on a night when your best shooter, senior Derek Raivio, was able to only hit 4 of 10 from the floor.

Still, Gonzaga (23-11) had pulled within four with 11:22 left after Jeremy Pargo converted two free throws.

Indiana wasn't shooting well either – the Hoosiers finished at 40 percent themselves – but over the next two minutes it was able to get to the free throw line three times. The Hoosiers made all six attempts which, combined with a D. J. White five-foot fallaway and four empty GU possessions, built the lead up to 53-41 with 9:32 left.

Indiana was nearly perfect from the line, converting 15 of 16 while GU was 12 of 16.

And that shooting made it impossible for Gonzaga to make a late run. That and the Zags hit 7 of 19 3-point attempts.

David Pendergraft and Raivio led the Zags with 12 points apiece. The Zags' other senior, Sean Mallon, finished with 11 points and six rebounds.

Roderick Wilmont paced Indiana with 22 points, 16 of those in the first 20 minutes, though he added the dagger with a 3-pointer with 2:06 left. White added 16, many of those late, Gonzaga struggled to get needed defensive stops. He also had a game-high 10 rebounds.

Just like at the beginning of the game.

The first half started out like the movie Hoosiers, with Indiana, of course, playing the starring role.

The Hoosiers (21-10 going into Saturday's second-round match-up with UCLA) were all shooting like Jimmy Chitwood from the outside, with their first seven baskets coming from beyond the 3-point arc. In fact, Indiana did not convert a 2-point hoop until 5:03 left in the first half when Wilmont hit a 10-foot jumper.

The shot were open because GU couldn't contain IU's penetration, especially from Calloway. The Hoosiers would drive and dish to an open teammate, who converted 7 of their first 13 long-range attempts.

Wilmont was torching the Zags from all over the court, hitting four first-half 3-pointers to finish with 16 points on 6 of 10 shooting.

"He hit those first 3s on us bang-bang-bang," Few said, "and we knew he could do that. We just had one of our guys caught up on a couple screens early. We knew we didn't want to leave him.

"They do a nice job, though, of spreading and making the extra pass."

Gonzaga slowed IU down by switching to a 3-2 zone about halfway through the first half. From there until halftime the Hoosiers hit just one long-range shot and that when Raivio got mixed up on an assignment.

But the Zags didn't take advantage, mostly because they were shooting like Ollie McClellan, the manager of the fictional Hickory team.

The starters combined to hit 6 of 22 first-half shots, with inside players Abdullahi Kuso and Sean Mallon a combined 4 of 11, all froma round the basket.

If it weren't for Pendergraft's eight points off the bench, the Hoosiers' lead would have been more than 34-29.

And that was without any help from IU's leading scorer White. The 6-9 widebody was a non-factor in the first half, hitting just 1 of 6 shots for two points. He did, however, grab five rebounds.

"I've been blessed to be around great players and great guys and great teams," Few said when asked about the season. "With everything we've been through this year, and I'm talking about the road swing we took on, and just the lack of experience to start this thing ... ya, I'm as proud as I've ever been."

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