SPOKANE, Wash. -- This sure looked like the year Gonzaga's
dominance of the West Coast Conference would be shattered.
As the Bulldogs struggled with a tough schedule, the drug arrest
of one of their top players, and an uncharacteristic three losses
to conference rivals, they seemed so vulnerable.
Wrong.
Gonzaga won its final three games, including a 74-64 win on
Monday at San Diego that clinched a seventh consecutive WCC
regular-season title. The Zags (21-10, 11-3 WCC) finished the
regular season one game ahead of Santa Clara, which lost to
Pepperdine 89-82 on Monday.
Coach Mark Few said Tuesday this year is much different from
recent ones, when the Bulldogs were a Top 10 juggernaut that
cruised through the WCC, including a 40-2 record the past three
seasons.
"We've faced a lot of adversity and a lot of things we haven't
faced at Gonzaga for some time, including being in second place
going down the stretch," Few said. "Our guys never lost sight of
the goal. We went on the road and got two hard-earned victories
over good ballclubs."
But some things the Zags didn't win. In awards given out Tuesday
by the WCC, Dick Davey of Santa Clara was voted coach of the year,
breaking a string of six consecutive coach titles for Few. Davey is
retiring after this season.
"He's a heck of a coach and somebody I always looked up to,"
Few said. "It's a well-deserved honor for him."
Gonzaga did get its seventh consecutive WCC player of the year
honor, but guard Derek Raivio shared the prize with Sean Denison of
Santa Clara.
Raivio leads the WCC in scoring with 18 points per game, and
leads the nation in free throws by making 95.5 percent from the
stripe. Denison averages 11.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, and
made 59 percent of his field goals.
Few said Raivio does so many things well that it is easy to take
him for granted.
"The way he shoots free throws is amazing," Few said. "Any
time he gets fouled, we assume its two points. That's probably not
really fair."
In other honors, Raivio and guard Jeremy Pargo were on the
All-WCC first team, while Sean Mallon was an honorable mention.
Matt Bouldin was picked for the all-freshman team.
The regular season title gave Gonzaga a bye into the semifinals
of the conference tournament this weekend in Portland, Ore. Gonzaga
will play either San Diego, Pepperdine or San Francisco on Sunday,
with the winner advancing to the finals on Monday.
Few had the first 10-loss season of his career, and the team's
first since the 1997-98 campaign. A string of road losses in
December also knocked the Zags out of the Top 25 for the first time
in several years. Gonzaga lost three WCC games for the first time
since 1999-2000.
The Feb. 9 arrest of forward Josh Heytvelt, who was averaging 15
points and 7.0 rebounds per game, seemed to drive a dagger into the
Bulldogs' season. Heytvelt, charged with felony possession of a
controlled substance, has been suspended indefinitely.
Three nights later, the Zags were beaten by Santa Clara, ending
their 50-game home winning streak, longest in the nation. A few
days later, they lost an overtime thriller to No. 6 Memphis.
But the Bulldogs rebounded to win their final three games as
Micah Downs, Bouldin and Abdullahi Cuso stepped up to fill
Heytvelt's role.
"The team as a whole was greater than the sum of its parts the
last two weeks," Few said.
Still, many assert the Bulldogs will have to win the WCC
tournament and the league's automatic berth to get into the NCAA
tournament.
That opinion was not shared by WCC coaches, who during a
conference call Tuesday reached consensus in saying the Zags should
be invited to the NCAAs if they do not win the WCC tournament.
Seven of Gonzaga's losses came at the hands of teams in the top
52 in the RPI: Memphis, Duke, Nevada, Washington State, Butler,
Virginia and Georgia. The Zags beat No. 8 North Carolina, No. 15
Texas, Stanford and Washington.