USD Beats Gonzaga, Reaches .500

John Jerome and Kelvin Woods ignited the run, Wayman Strickland and Craig Cottrell finished it, and when all was said and done, the University of San Diego ran away with its third consecutive West Coast Conference game Saturday night.

The victim was Gonzaga, 68-58, in front of 2,263 in the USD Sports Center.

USD Coach Hank Egan called it a gut check--a proper assessment considering it was tied, 52-52, with just under seven minutes left.

That’s when Jerome hit an inside basket. Woods then scored six of the game’s next eight points. After Gonzaga’s Jim McPhee made one of two free throws, Strickland and Cottrell split eight of the next 10 points to end a 16-6 run over the final 6:53.

The victory put an end to the Toreros’ days as a team below .500. USD, which has had consecutive losing seasons and began this season 3-7, improved to 10-10 and ran its WCC record to 5-3, keeping pace with Pepperdine (a 100-91 winner over San Francisco) for second.

Gonzaga, suffering through what will probably be its first losing season in eight under Coach Dan Fitzgerald, fell to 6-15, 1-7.

Jerome scored a team-high 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. He had 25 and 13 in a 76-55 victory over Portland Thursday.

Strickland, who’s 20th birthday earned him a free ride to the showers after the game, celebrated in his own way with 15 points and nine assists.

Strickland, who played all 40 minutes at point guard because Gylan Dottin missed his third game with a broken nose, made just two turnovers. USD had just seven--a season low--for the second game in a row.

“Everybody’s picking it up a notch,” Strickland said. “It feels real good.”

Things got off to a slow start for USD, even slower for Gonzaga.

After Jerome tipped in a missed shot for the game’s first points at 19:40, neither team scored for the next 2:40.

Gonzaga did not get its first field goal until 15:05 and did not get into double figures until McPhee hit a jumper at 9:56.

The Toreros never trailed in the first half and just once in the game--that coming on Gonzaga’s first possession of the second half as Bret Holmdahl made a 13-footer from the baseline to give the Bulldogs a 31-30 lead. But Jerome came back with an inside basket, and Pat Holbert made back-to-back three-pointers.

After its slow start, Gonzaga got hot, eventually making 55% (12 of 22) in the first half.

Darryl May hit a one-handed baseline jumper at the buzzer to close Gonzaga to within 30-29.

“I thought that coaching staff down there did a heck of a job,” Egan said. “They played the game technically and tactically as well as you can play it. They forced us to really struggle.”

McPhee, a fifth-year senior and two-time All-WCC selection, led Gonzaga in scoring for the 19th time in 21 games with 24 points.