Jimmy Chitwood
Hall of Famer
the Saint Mary’s Gaels are still undefeated in conference play after knocking off Gonzaga in the Zags’ home gym Saturday night.
the Gaels who play a nearly-all-White rotation started off very cold (they only hit 1 of their first 11 shots), but they didn’t panic and clawed back to make a game of it midway through the first half. the second half was a back-and-forth affair, but the Gaels were the more poised team down the stretch and earned a tough win on the road.
Gonzaga, who start only one White player and have two other freshmen gym rats come off the bench in their usually-only-7-man rotation, are not the team of former years when they played a free flowing, beautiful passing, up-tempo offensive style. this year’s team doesn’t have that identity for some reason (they had only 5 assists FOR THE GAME against Saint Mary’s, for example), and it shows in the results.
Saint Mary’s started off the season with some tough losses and worse shooting performances, but they look to have righted the ship (9 consecutive wins in conference) behind a solid backcourt of Mahaney and Marciuloinis and anchored by Saxen in the post.
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Wisconsin and Purdue played a terrific game this afternoon, and unfortunately one White-friendly team had to lose. this time it was the Badgers who came up short, but it was no fault of Tyler Wahl. the super senior had team-highs of 20 points (10-16 shooting), 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocked shots with only 1 turnover in 36 minutes. it was a MONSTER individual performance in defeat.
Purdue continues to roll behind its sophomore backcourt of Smith (likely the best point guard in the league and perhaps second-best in the country) and Loyer, though center Zach Edey rightfully draws the lion’s share of recognition.
the Gaels who play a nearly-all-White rotation started off very cold (they only hit 1 of their first 11 shots), but they didn’t panic and clawed back to make a game of it midway through the first half. the second half was a back-and-forth affair, but the Gaels were the more poised team down the stretch and earned a tough win on the road.
Gonzaga, who start only one White player and have two other freshmen gym rats come off the bench in their usually-only-7-man rotation, are not the team of former years when they played a free flowing, beautiful passing, up-tempo offensive style. this year’s team doesn’t have that identity for some reason (they had only 5 assists FOR THE GAME against Saint Mary’s, for example), and it shows in the results.
Saint Mary’s started off the season with some tough losses and worse shooting performances, but they look to have righted the ship (9 consecutive wins in conference) behind a solid backcourt of Mahaney and Marciuloinis and anchored by Saxen in the post.
*****************
Wisconsin and Purdue played a terrific game this afternoon, and unfortunately one White-friendly team had to lose. this time it was the Badgers who came up short, but it was no fault of Tyler Wahl. the super senior had team-highs of 20 points (10-16 shooting), 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocked shots with only 1 turnover in 36 minutes. it was a MONSTER individual performance in defeat.
Purdue continues to roll behind its sophomore backcourt of Smith (likely the best point guard in the league and perhaps second-best in the country) and Loyer, though center Zach Edey rightfully draws the lion’s share of recognition.