Dogs eat Dawgs in Spokane 98-71

Well, that was a poor showing.

Tonight played out like all Husky fans were afraid it might, with a 98-71 beat down by the #8 Gonzaga Bulldogs (9-0) in Spokane. The Dawgs now drop to .500 on the season at 4-4 and have lost three straight.

Former Husky Nigel Williams-Goss lead the Bulldogs with 23 points in the dominant win against his former team. Przemek Karnowski, the 7’1” 300 lbs Pole, contributed 17 points and eight rebounds of his own.

Meanwhile, Markelle Fultz was able to finish the game with a solid double-double including 25 points, 10 rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block and only two turnovers. All of that, despite having a pretty off night going 10-26 from the field, but hitting on three of his six long balls. Noah Dickerson added in his own double-double, with 12 points and 15 boards, but the Huskies needed better from both if they were going to stand a chance against the Zags.

The first half was simply atrocious for the Huskies, who made only four of their first 25 shots. Gonzaga jumped out to a quick 16-4 lead, as they repeatedly sliced up the Huskies’ non-existant D over the course of the game. At one point in the first half, Gonzaga had taken a 35-10 lead, hitting on an insane 73% of their shots. There was really no Husky highlight to focus on in the first half, as the Dawgs didn’t hit a single shot from beyond the arc until 3 minutes into the second half, going 0-7 in the first.

Heading into the second half, Gonzaga held a 47-22 lead. While the Huskies’ offense picked up in the final 20 minutes, unfortunately the Zags’ did too. At one point, there was even a scary moment when Fultz went down with an apparent leg injury, which luckily turned out to be nothing more than a bad cramp. Still, with the game going this poorly, it started to feel like a “when it rains, it pours” moment.

One of the most misleading stats of the game was the Huskies’ 54-42 rebound lead. Despite winning the battle of the boards, including 29 offensive rebounds, the Huskies’ big men were atrocious in the paint, missing repeatedly from directly under the rim possession after possession. Poor ball handling, bad hands, poor shot choices and bad defense continued to plague the Dawgs, as they have all season.

Overall, the Huskies’ field goal percentage was 30.4%, while shooting 25% from 3-point range. The Zags hit 50.3% of their field goals and 50% of their 3-pointers.

Simply put, this was an embarrassing game for the Huskies.

Next Up: The Dawgs will be back at home this Sunday to play a 7-2 Nevada team at 5 PM.