Morrison Takes Over and Gonzaga Survives

SALT LAKE CITY -- Gonzaga was spiraling from March darling to March dud once again.

Then Adam Morrison decided it wasn’t going to happen.

And with a fierce rally punctuated by the shots he willed toward the basket as much as the words he hurled at his teammates as well as his opponents, he brought Gonzaga from nine points down against Xavier to a 79-75 victory Thursday in a first-round NCAA tournament game in the Huntsman Center.

It was a game Gonzaga didn’t look as if it would possibly win, and then Morrison put the team on his shoulders and scored 35 points in the game, 20 in the second half and 11 in a little more than five minutes down the stretch.

Nothing surprises Gonzaga Coach Mark Few anymore.

“He could go to Park City and do back flips off some of those snowboard X-guy things and it wouldn’t shock me,” Few said. “That’s just Adam.”

Xavier Coach Sean Miller was duly impressed.

“The word I use to describe him is relentless,” he said. “I don’t believe I’ve ever been on the court with a player as offensively talented as he is and as nasty as he sometimes is -- and I mean that in a very complimentary way.”

Gonzaga (28-3) trailed by nine with less than 12 minutes left, and was still trailing by five with 5:24 left when Morrison drove to the basket and kissed a shot soft high off the glass.

He cut the lead to two almost two minutes later on another driving layup and finally gave Gonzaga, seeded third in the Oakland Regional, its first lead of the second half with 1:58 to play when he took a few dribbles and launched a three-pointer that was good for a 72-71 lead.

“All year long I wanted to be the guy who took the big shot,” he said. “I was going to take that shot regardless.”

It would take more big plays to win, including one of Morrison’s four assists when he pulled up for a three with 41 seconds left and instead fired a pass down low to J.P. Batista, who scored for a 76-73 lead.

When Xavier’s Stanley Burrell missed from three-point range with 23 seconds left, it was Morrison who got the rebound and was fouled. “That rebound, you know, I’m not the greatest rebounder on this team, so I was pretty happy with myself,” he said. “I knew if I could make the free throws at the end it would pretty much be over.”

He made both, going four for four from the line in the final 1:16 and nine for 11 in the game. He made 11 of 21 shots overall and four of eight from three-point range, in a game in which Xavier’s Justin Cage, at 6 feet 6 and 225 pounds, played stout defense on the 6-8 Morrison.

It was a game effort by Xavier (21-11). But the Bulldogs -- losers in the first or second round four years in a row after three consecutive Sweet 16 appearances -- move on, with Morrison yakking all the way.

“As you guys know, I’m a pretty emotional player. I kind of feed off what other people say to me, or what other people do, and that’s kind of what gets me going,” he said.

It doesn’t matter if you wear the same color jersey.

“I might look [angry] every time down the floor if I don’t get the ball,” he said. “They understand I’m not mad. I just want to win games.”