Claremore Daily Progress

Sports

November 24, 2012

BASKETBALL: Gonzaga rolls past Sooners, 72-47

ASSOCIATED PRESS Associated Press

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger hopes his team gained some valuable knowledge from a tough loss to Gonzaga.

Elias Harris scored 18 points and No. 17 Gonzaga beat Oklahoma 72-47 in a semifinal matchup Friday night at the Old Spice Classic.

The Sooners were outrebounded 51-24.

"Gonzaga did a terrific job in dictating pretty much in every way,'' Kruger said. "Anytime you get whipped that badly on the boards, you know they were a lot more physical, a lot more aggressive to loose balls. It's a terrific learning opportunity for us, and we've got to get that from it. Otherwise it's a waste of time. So we've got to learn from it.''

Kelly Olynyk, Gary Bell Jr., Kevin Pangos and Przemek Karnowski each had eight points for Gonzaga (5-0).

Romero Osby led Oklahoma (3-1) with 13 points, and Isaiah Cousins had 10.

The Sooners shot 32 percent (16 of 50).

"We were sped up because of Gonzaga's defense and didn't shoot with good rhythm or pace,'' Kruger said. "You could say, well, we just missed shots, but Gonzaga had something to do with that.''

Gonzaga will play Davidson, which beat West Virginia 63-60, in the championship game Sunday night. Oklahoma will close out the tourney Sunday against the Mountaineers.

Consecutive long-range jumpers by Bell and Harris, who also had slammed in a rebound, gave Gonzaga a 43-25 lead three minutes into the second half.

Pangos' 3-pointer extended the Zags' lead to 53-31 with 12 minutes to play.

Olynyk had an in-close basket and David Stockton scored on a layup as Gonzaga built a 59-34 lead midway through the second half.

"That was a really, really good win for us,'' Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "We played really good. Got back to playing our style. We attacked on the offense end all night, and did another great job playing defense.''

Gonzaga got points from nine players - led by Bell with five - en route to a 32-22 halftime advantage.

Stockton's fast-break layup in the final minute gave Gonzaga a 32-21 lead.

Olynyk had a dunk and layup as Gonzaga went ahead 14-5.

Oklahoma trailed just 14-8 despite going 2 for 15 from the field during the opening 10 1/2 minutes.

Steven Pledger's jumper cut the Sooners' deficit to 18-13 with 8 minutes left in the half. Andrew Fitzgerald had a slam that got Oklahoma to 20-17 two minutes later.

Pangos' jumper put Gonzaga up 25-19 four minutes before the intermission.

The Zags, winners of the 2008 Old Spice Classic, have won all five games they have played in the tourney.



 

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