March 6, 2005

Box Score

GONZAGA Coach Mark Few's Opening comments:
We had a great approach tonight. I like the way we came out. For the first time in awhile I didn't taper things back going into the tournament. They came out with a lot of energy. Our defensive intensity in stretches was good and we really shared the ball a lot.

Few on his team's first half performance:
We were very good. It was probably for stretches as good a combination of defensive intensity and disruption with great offensive execution and we were getting the ball were it needed to be...We certainly have a lot of confidence in a lot of different. Guys. We've had confidence in those freshmen all year. We've been trying to get Pierre (Altidor-Cespedes) to shoot all year. He's a great shooter, but to talk him into shooting has been quite a chore for all of us. We showed some real good signs. One thing was our defensive intensity and ability to disrupt people.

Adam Morrison on the keys in the first half:
As coach said we shared the ball and moved it around. That's the best we've passed all year.

Morrison on shutting down USD's Brandon Gay in the second half:
He's a great player. Obviously my teammates helped me a lot.

J.P. Batista on the Gonzaga offense:
The offense is going to come naturally. We have a lot of options. You've got to be able to play good defense as a team. I think we did a great job tonight.

Few on Ronny Turiaf:
It was obviously tough for Ronny (Turiaf) - when you get two early fouls. Last year he didn't play particularly well in the semis and came out well in the finals. Mo picked it up a little. Sean Mallon gave us great minutes. That was a great sign for us and our staff to see him coming back.

UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO Coach Brad Holland's opening comments:
I would think that that was Gonzaga's best halves they've played all year. Unfortunately it was against us. They built a 21-point lead at half we couldn't recover from. They shot lights out, 65 per cent, and got a huge lead on us. I think, in my best estimate, they're a minimum sweet 16 team waiting to happen. They're so good inside. No question in my mind they can go far in the tournament - especially if they shoot 65 per cent in a half.

Brandon Gay on USD's first half shooting:
We were getting shots first half of the first half. Towards the middle we were going too fast and taking shots too quickly. Everyone stepped it up in the tournament. They were really focused in this game. This is the most focused I've seen them play.

Brad Holland on Gonzaga again:
I've been in this league 11 years and this team is one of the harder teams to defend. They did a great job to go 12 & 2 since this is one of the strongest leagues I've seen in my 11 years. I can't find a weakness in their game.

Holland on USD possibly receiving an NIT bid:
I told our team that I believe in my heart that we are and we should be an NIT bubble team. We have got respect this year as a league (noting the rpi rankings). Saint Mary's and Gonzaga are in the NCAA. Santa Clara and ourselve tied for third. Why can't we get two teams in the NIT? Our league deserves every consideration to get two teams in the NCAA and two teams in the NIT.