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Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Bouldin breaks out, Gonzaga wins
Freshman scores 18 to lead Zags
SPOKANE -- It was a good two-game homestand for Matt Bouldin.
The freshman wing came out of his long-range shooting slump Saturday night, then did a little bit of everything Monday night to help Gonzaga hold off the University of San Diego 91-82 before 6,000 in the McCarthey Athletic Center and a national television audience.
The West Coast Conference victory not only extended Gonzaga's home-court winning streak to 49 consecutive games (37 in McCarthey), it also raised the Zags' overall record to 15-7 (6-1 WCC). San Diego fell to 13-9, 3-4.
Gonzaga has won nine consecutive games against the Toreros and 20 of 22.
Bouldin led the Zags with 18 points, hitting 7 of 8 shots, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range. And, showing Gonzaga's depth, his sub, Micah Downs, also supplied some key long-range shooting, finishing with nine points.
Downs, the only Zag to play in the first half and not score, hit three 3-pointers in less than three minutes midway through the second half, allowing Gonzaga to weather a Torero rally and pull away.
"He's getting more and more comfortable finding his spots where he can help us," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "We needed him tonight. He's the one who gave us the extension we needed."
When sophomore point guard Jeremy Pargo broke free for three fast-break layups down the stretch and Bouldin returned to nail a 3-pointer as time expired on the shot clock with 2 minutes, 40 seconds left, the Zags were able to keep the Toreros at bay.
Pargo finished with 18 points (including an exclamation-point dunk with 23 seconds left), seven assists and six rebounds, the latter two statistics team highs.
"When those two, Jeremy and Matt, when they get on a roll, they can do that," Few said. "They both played well tonight. I also think Jeremy did a good job on (Brandon) Johnson. He was on a roll coming in."
Josh Heytvelt added 15 points as Gonzaga shot 67 percent from the floor (including 8 of 11 from long range) as compared to San Diego's 44 percent.
San Diego's second-half rally was fueled by senior Ross DeRogatis, playing his last game in Spokane.
DeRogatis, a 6-foot-1 guard, led San Diego with 23 points, including 4 of 8 from long range and 7 of 9 from the line.
"I've been concerned about USD for a long time," Few said. "Watching them on tape you could see they are a really talented offensive team with a lot of weapons.
"We played pretty darn efficient offense ourselves and that's what won it for us."

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