 "Photo: Hanne Zak")
PORTLAND - Gonzaga made a spectacular arrival to the 2009 NCAA tournament, but it didn't come until 8:19 left in the game. Luckily for them, it proved to be a hell of an entrance.
After a shocking first half in which Akron seemed to have all the momentum, the Zags made an inspired late game push that allowed them to outlast the Zips and capture a hard-fought victory at the Rose Garden on Thursday.
The No. 4 seeded Zags escaped the No. 13 Akron Zips 77-64 in a game in which, for 33 minutes, the Zips were poised to make a stunning upset.
"They did have us rattled in the first half," said senior center Josh Heytvelt. "We weren't playing our game, exactly. We came out in the second half and just settled down."
After Gonzaga traded leads with Akron for most of the game, the Zags finally woke up in the second half. Heytvelt scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half, and the Zags used a 19-1 run late in the game to turn a 1-point deficit into a 17-point lead. The Zags kept pushing after that, reclaiming a matchup that was controlled by the Zips in the first half and advancing to the second round of the tournament.
"I really liked how our guys hung with this game," Head Coach Mark Few said. "It was a grinder, and I think our staff and our players understood the kind of game it was going to be."
Heytvelt's 22 points led the Bulldogs. Micah Downs added 15 points and was six-for-six from the free-throw line, helping the Zags to the win after trailing by three at halftime. Coming into Thursday's game, Gonzaga was 3-5 in games that they trailed at the half.
"I'm real proud," Few said. "The guys stuck with it. Didn't panic, didn't get antsy, didn't get frustrated and just stuck with the plan."
There were no style points in this one, as early on the Bulldogs looked nothing like the team that ran away with the WCC Tournament championship. Akron's quick, stifling defense forced the Bulldogs into a half-court offense. Not able to get things going in transition, the Bulldogs scored only seven fast-break points in the first half.
Zips defenders pushed, shoved, and muscled the Zags into poor possessions and too many outside shots early on. Brothers Brett and Chris McKnight in particular made sure that the Zags didn't get any easy looks, and their physical defense often took Gonzaga's offense out of any rhythm in the first half.
Meanwhile, it was Akron that played like the Zags on offense, pushing the tempo and moving the ball to find open looks. The Zips attacked the basket with relative ease in the first half, scoring 16 points in the paint. When the Zags clogged the lane, Akron whipped the ball around the perimeter to get outside shots. Senior forward Nate Linhart scored 10 points in the first half, and the Zips were 4-5 from 3-point range at halftime. When the first half came to a close, Jeremy Pargo was fuming, the crowd was silent, and the Zags were hanging their heads as they went toward the locker room down 38-35.
"We knew from the scouting report that (Linhart) could shoot the three, and we didn't take the scouting report seriously enough in the first half," said senior forward Micah Downs. "Coach is always telling us 'close on their toes' so they can't get a hand up, and we did that better in the second half."
Gonzaga found themselves down by as many as five points early in the second half before mounting a furious comeback. The Zags went on a 9-3 run, capped off by a 3-pointer by Steven Gray at the 12:49 mark, giving Gonzaga it's first lead of the second half, 50-49. The crowd had come alive, and it seemed like Gonzaga had regained its confidence.
But Chris McKnight took the momentum right back, hitting two free throws, giving the lead back to the Zips and continuing a seesaw battle that saw the lead change hands 14 times.
Two free throws from Micah Downs gave the Bulldogs a 53-52 lead, and a dunk from Heytvelt provided the exclamation point, with the Zags leading 57-52. Moments later, freshman Demitri Goodsen forced a jump ball, giving possession to Gonzaga. That proved to be the turning point, as Gonzaga went on the 19-1 run fueled by electrifying dunks and demoralizing 3-pointers. Gonzaga never relinquished its lead after that.
"The one thing that I will say, especially with this team, it has some spurtability or something. We can make runs," Few said. "If we can get out in transition and run, that's when we're at out best."
After winning their two games in the WCC tournament by a combined 60 points, Gonzaga was rolling as it was awarded a No. 4 seed into the NCAA Tournament, its highest since a No. 3 seed in 2006. The Zags went a perfect 14-0 in WCC play and 26-5 overall.
The Zips, meanwhile, clinched an automatic bid after winning the Mid-American Conference championship and posting a 23-12 record. This was their first appearance in the tournament since 1986.
After the game, Zips head coach Keith Dambrot said that Gonzaga's late game run proved just how powerful of a team the Zags can be.
"That is not a mid-major anymore, my friend," he said "That is one of the best basketball teams in the country." Advancing past the first round for the first time since 2006, the Zags will face the winner of Illinois/Western Kentucky on Saturday.
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