USD Starts Slowly, Loses to Gonzaga

Gonzaga scored the game’s first 11 points and went on to defeat the University of San Diego, 88-71, in a West Coast Athletic Conference game.

USD didn’t score until the 15:07 mark of the first half when Gylan Dottin made two free throws. Gonzaga led by as many as 15 in the first half, 37-22, before USD ran off eight consecutive points to make the score 37-30.

“We got it down to five--we dug out of it pretty good,” USD Coach Hank Egan said. “Especially after our slow start.”

Gonzaga led by as many as 17, 54-37, in the second half before USD trimmed it to 64-59 on a Kelvin Means layup with 4:59 to play. But Gonzaga scored the next 10 points to put it out of reach.

Means led USD (7-19, 2-12) with 22 points, including six three-pointers. Craig Cottrell added 16 points, and Dottin had 10.

Mike Winger led Gonzaga (14-13, 5-9) with 22 points, Jim McPhee and Doug Spradley each had 20, Todd Franklin had 16.

USD plays U.S. International University Tuesday at the USD Sports Center in the regular-season finale.