NCAA News Wire
Memphis 60, Gonzaga 54
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — They had trailed the entire second half and by as many as 12 points, but the No. 24 Memphis Tigers rallied to defeat No. 23 Gonzaga 60-54 on Saturday night at FedExForum.
A jumper by guard Kevin Pangos gave the Zags a 54-50 lead with 3:20 to play. From there, the Memphis defense clamped down. The Bulldogs trailed 55-54 when they got the ball with 1:04 to play. The possession ended in a shot clock violation, and the Tigers made 5 of 6 free throws to seal the victory.
Guards Michael Dixon and Chris Crawford led Memphis (18-5) with 11 points each. Guard Joe Jackson had 10 points and forward Shaq Goodwin had 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Forward Sam Dower paced Gonzaga (21-4) with 18 points and eight rebounds. Center Przemek Karnowski and guard Gerard Coleman scored 12 each.
Memphis had a huge advantage on the glass: 44-28.
Gonzaga took a three-point halftime lead and extended it to 12, 42-30, at the 14:35 mark on a putback by Dower. That followed two Gonzaga free throws that were the result of a flagrant two foul call on Tigers power forward Dominic Woodson; by rule, he was ejected from the game.
The Tigers were still down 42-31 when Jackson, who is listed at 6 feet 1, leaped and blocked Karnowski’s shot at the rim. That charged up the crowd and the Tigers, who went on an 11-2 run to cut the lead to 44-42 at 8:16.
Memphis didn’t score a field goal for seven minutes; Dixon hit a 3-pointer with 4:51 left. The Tigers’ next field goal came at 3:54, when Dixon made a running jump shot in traffic. That cut the Zags’ lead to 52-50.
The Bulldogs led 25-22 at halftime as both teams struggled with their shooting. The Tigers shot just 26.5 percent (9-for-34) and Gonzaga shot 40.7 percent (11-for-27). At the free-throw line, the teams were a combined 3-for-10 (30 percent).
Bulldogs guard Gerard Coleman led all scorers with 10 points. Crawford hit 3 of 4 3-pointers and had nine points.
Gonzaga jumped out to a 5-1 lead but then went almost seven minutes without scoring. The Tigers went on an 11-0 run that included one shot-clock violation against the Zags and another near violation that ended with a desperation 3-point attempt from 7-foot-1 center Przemek Karnowski.
Gonzaga trailed 12-5 at the 11:10 mark but responded with a 12-0 run to take a 17-12 lead at 7:24. Memphis then outscored Gonzaga 10-8 to the break.
NOTES: Memphis brought a 5-2 series record into Saturday’s game. … Since the 2000-01 season, the Tigers and Bulldogs have combined for 22 NCAA tournament berths (nine for Memphis, 13 for Gonzaga). … Gonzaga ranks second nationally in 3-point field goal percentage at 41.8. Three players are shooting over 40 percent: G/F Drew Barham (47.9 percent), G Gary Bell Jr. (45.7 percent) and G Kevin Pangos (43.4 percent). … Barham is from Memphis and played for the Tigers from 2009 to 2012. … The game was televised on ESPN as part of the network’s “College GameDay” coverage. The last time “GameDay” stopped in Memphis was in 2008 for No. 1 Memphis vs. No. 2 Tennessee.
