Inept offense continues in decisive loss to Gonzaga

Effort generally remains but scoring and interior "d" are ongoing challenges

The first two possessions of last night’s loss to the Zags set the stage for how things would go offensively for Pacific - a missed layup and a front rim miss from three feet - as the Tigers shot just 1-7 with 3 turnovers to start the game and eventually fell behind by 28 midway through the second half in a 78-61 loss, a score that flattered Pacific.

While 6’4” Lamar Washington led the way with 22 points, 18 of those came in the second half after the match had clearly been decided. In the first 10 minutes or so when it was still a game, the Zags did a nice job of having taller, longer defenders on Washington - that said (at the risk of ad nauseum repetition): the Tigers simply do not have a consistent, talented threat in the half court who can create help and rotate situations. Pacific turned it over nine times in the first half including at least two against Gonzaga’s three-quarter court pressure - this team lacks any sustainable, quality offensive talent and, outside of Lamar, anyone who can be trusted to orchestrate an offense.

It appeared that 7’0” Jazz Gardner was simply not ready to play at the start of the game - missing that easy lay-up on the game’s first possession when the Tigers actually forced some help and then settling for a push shot in transition when an elevation to the cup to draw some contact may have been the better longer-term option. Compounding the issue, Jazz then quickly got lost on an easy big to big screen down low resulting in an easy Gonzaga dunk, forcing an early entry into the game for 6’10” Burke Smith. The ease with which the Bulldogs were able to get free for scores inside was a recurring theme on the night.

Despite their offensive droughts, Pacific was in the game at 12-11 after a three pointer (and a foul) from the right corner by 6’4” Petar Krivokapic - set up by a nice skip pass by 6’2” Seth Jones. Poised to tie the game, Petar unfortunately missed the free throw (Pacific ended the game 12-20 from the foul line) and Gonzaga then proceeded to go on a 14-0 run, some set up by careless turnovers off Zags pressure off makes and dead balls that created some of the 9 first-half turnovers - the game was essentially over at that point. The Tigers were 0 for 8 with three turnovers during that 5 1/2-minute stretch.

Pacific did get it to 28-20 late in the half with a mini 9-2 run but then Gonzaga’s 6’10” SO backup center Braeden Huff took over inside keying a 7-0 Zags run to end the half as Tigers trailed 35-20 at the intermission. Staying with the theme of inside domination, 6’10” Graham Ike then took over with 9 consecutive Gonzaga points at the start of the second half, the lead immediately swelled to 19 and the rout was on.

For the first time in several games, Coach Smart gave deeper portions of his bench more opportunity - that said the game was long decided by that time. 6’8” Solomon Ominu contributed four blocks and 6’7” Kris Keinys was active on the glass with 4 boards and even knocked down a three, so Pacific’s bench contribution statistically in this game was maybe the best this season in WCC play (not vetted). Still, the bench data looked like this: 62 combined minutes, 5 for 13 from the field including 3 for 11 from three, 1-2 from the line and 7 rebounds.

Pacific travels to Los Angeles on Thursday to face Loyola Marymount (14-10, 6-6) as the Lions come off a pair of losses at Gonzaga (by 20 - that game was tied midway through the second half) and at home vs. San Francisco (tight 6-point loss). The Lions do have a Tuesday night game at Pepperdine which is the make-up of the postponed game from January 11th. Recall LMU pulled away in the final 10 minutes for a six-point win at Pacific in a game that was tied with 9 1/2 minutes remaining.

WCC Standings:

Saint Mary’s 11-1

San Francisco 10-3

Gonzaga 9-3

Santa Clara 9-4

Oregon State 7-5

LMU 6-6

Washington State 6-7

Pepperdine 3-8 (LMU, San Diego, at Gonzaga, Oregon State, at LMU, at Portland, Washington State)

Portland 3-9 (Oregon State, LMU, at Saint Mary’s, at Pacific, Pepperdine, at San Diego)

Pacific 3-10 (at LMU, at Oregon State, at San Francisco, Portland, Santa Clara)

San Diego 1-12 (at Pepperdine, San Francisco, Oregon State, at Washington State, Portland)