Originally published Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 10:49 PM
Gonzaga men upset No. 16 Saint Mary's 73-59
Freshman Kevin Pangos scored 27 points and Gonzaga beat No. 16 Saint Mary's 73-59 on Thursday night to avenge an earlier loss to the West...
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SPOKANE — Freshman Kevin Pangos scored 27 points and Gonzaga beat No. 16 Saint Mary's 73-59 on Thursday night to avenge an earlier loss to the West Coast Conference leader.
The win kept alive the hopes of Gonzaga (19-4, 9-2) to win its 12th consecutive regular-season title.
But the Zags, who lost to Saint Mary's in January, will need somebody to beat the Gaels (22-3, 11-1), who saw their 12-game winning streak snapped.
Matthew Dellavedova had 20 points for Saint Mary's, which shot just 38 percent from the field (21 of 55), including going 5 of 21 from three-point range.
Gonzaga shot 52 percent (28 of 53) and was 7 of 15 on threes. The Zags won the rebound battle 40-26.
"I told them before the game, 'Everybody in the building needs to know who the toughest guys were,' " Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "Our bigs played tough. Our guards played tough."
Trailing by three points at halftime, Saint Mary's opened the second half with a 9-4 run to take a 40-38 lead. But consecutive three-pointers by Pangos and Gary Bell Jr. put Gonzaga ahead 44-40.
The teams traded baskets until Pangos hit a three-pointer with 8 minutes left to extend Gonzaga's lead to 56-49. Bell added another three a minute later, and Gonzaga led 59-49.
After two free throws by Dellavedova, Pangos hit his fifth three-pointer in as many attempts for a 62-51 lead with 6 minutes left.
"Our guys battled for 30 minutes," Gaels coach Randy Bennett said. "We have to play 40 up here."


