Gonzaga’s Jordan Mathews is fearless when it comes to taking big shots

The first long-range shots Jordan Mathews made counted for three points only in his head. They came on an adjustable plastic basket in the basement of his San Francisco home against a younger brother who was largely defenseless.

Only 5 years old at the time, Jordan could have easily overpowered Jonah, then 2, but decided to take more of a finesse approach every time he gripped the rubber ball.

“He actually never dunked,” Jonah recalled this week. “He would just shoot it like from far away, just simulate him making threes.”

Some things never change.

Jordan is still making outside shots, only now they generate some interest outside his basement.

Mathews’ three-pointer with less than a minute to play last week helped Gonzaga down West Virginia in an NCAA tournament regional semifinal and nudged the Bulldogs (36-1) toward the Final Four, where they will face South Carolina (26-10) on Saturday afternoon at University of Phoenix Stadium in a national semifinal.

“Everybody asked what I was thinking when I shot it,” Mathews said Friday. “I was like, ‘Make it.’ That’s all I really thought.”

His fearlessness has earned the senior shooting guard the nickname “Big Shot Bob” from Gonzaga Coach Mark Few, a reference to former Lakers forward Robert Horry’s habit of making game winners on the way to seven NBA titles. Few repeated the moniker Friday, triggering a what-are-you-talking-about expression from Mathews two seats over.

Mathews did acknowledge a stylistic preference that jibes with the way Horry liked to play.

“I love shooting from deep,” he said. “It just gives me a certain rush.”

Mathews has been hooked on game winners since making a three-pointer to beat the Blazers, the top team in his YMCA league. He followed that with heroic shots in a high school summer league game and at Santa Monica High, where his three-pointer with two seconds left toppled Los Angeles Loyola in the Southern Section Division I championship.

He’s missed his share of late shots too but never let that stop him from trying again with a game on the line.

“If you make it, you win and if you miss it, you lose,” Mathews said. “It’s really that simple. There’s no need to have fear or hesitation when you let it go.”

Mathews went quite the distance just to be in position to beat West Virginia. He had spent his first three college seasons at California, ranking No. 4 on the school’s all-time list for three-pointers, before stylistic differences with Coach Cuonzo Martin and a desire to play into April spurred his decision to leave for Gonzaga as a graduate transfer.

First, he had to complete six classes in 12 weeks to obtain his undergraduate degree in legal studies.

“The people at Cal, they said, ‘Jordan, nobody’s ever attempted this, to graduate in a summer,’ ” said Phil Mathews, Jordan’s father and the former UCLA assistant who is now the head coach at Riverside City College. “Jordan said, ‘Well, that’s what I want to do,’ and he did it.”

It required sunup to sundown schoolwork, Mathews’ 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. class schedule more relentless than any full-court press. It probably helped that his foot was in a cast at the time from ankle surgery, removing the temptation to blow off books for basketball or the beach.

“You’d see people on social media, you’d see your friends having fun during the summer,” Mathews said, “and I couldn’t walk.”

Mathews picked Gonzaga because of his strong relationship with Bulldogs assistant Donny Daniels, a family friend, and the school’s potential as a mid-major on the cusp of enormous success. The arrival of fellow transfers Nigel Williams-Goss and Johnathan Williams alongside Mathews has boosted the Bulldogs to the deepest tournament run in school history.

Williams-Goss threw Mathews the pass that resulted in his late three-pointer against West Virginia. Mathews had to reach down to grab the ball after it was deflected, something he had plenty of practice doing.

“He said that that just reminded him of all the bad passes I used to throw him in workouts, so he shot it,” cracked Phil Mathews, who was watching from the stands in San Jose. “He’s a shotmaker and he’s not afraid to take the shot. That’s in his DNA.”

Mathews credited his father as well as former Arizona standout Miles Simon and his late father, Walt, for making him into such a prolific shooter, steadying his follow-through and quickening his release. He loves shooting so much that he would go in search of freshly plowed driveways to play in the winter when his father was an assistant at Nebraska.

“We’ve always found a way to get shots up,” said Mathews, who has made 11 three-pointers in the NCAA tournament while scoring a team-high 14.3 points per game.

He’s also quickly shrugged off misses, continuing to shoot after misfiring on seven of his first eight shots against West Virginia. Few said he got on his assistants to put Mathews back into the game because he knew he was going to make a big shot.

Watching from the stands, Jonah Mathews said he knew what was coming as the ball left his brother’s hands, Gonzaga’s fate also up in the air.

“I’m like, that’s going in,” said Jonah, who recently completed his freshman season at USC. “I had no doubt in my mind. My mom was over there crying and I was like, ‘Mom, you should have known. He was bred to do this.’ ”

Jonah predicted more of the same this weekend from the sibling whose shots have soared into prominence since their days as cellar dwellers.

“A big stage,” Jonah said, “it’s his time.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com

Follow Ben Bolch on Twitter @latbbolch