Gonzaga owns the Orleans Arena here in Vegas...it is referred to as the Kennel South as they play in Spokane,Washington & the nickname of their home court, the McCarthey Athletic Center is the Kennel.  Last night the Zags got off to a smooth start against San Francisco with multiple backdoor lay-ups.  It looked like Gonzaga would crush the Dons but USF dug deep and nearly pulled off the outright upset.  Meanwhile St. Mary's got more heroics from Jordan Ford who hit the game winner vs. BYU in the late game with just over a second remaining.  The final score was 51-50, a far cry from their double OT (89-82) wild one on Saturday vs. Pepperdine where the Gaels got a few controversial calls their way down the stretch of the quarterfinal.  Last night was Gonzaga's first game of the Tournament while tonight will be number 3 in 4 days for St. Mary's.  With some court familiarity the Zags should be shooting more three's and I believe will eventually get on a big run and win by double digits.  Corey Kispert has knocked down triples at a clip of 44% while Gonzaga as a team is nearly 39% from deep.  Last night Kispert was (0-1) and the team a paltry (3-12) from behind the arc.  I also feel like the Zags will force Ford to give up the ball and force other Gael players to beat them.  Malik Fitts had a woeful (2-13) shooting night for St. Mary's and will have to shoot lights out tonight for a win over Gonzaga.  I'll rely on Mark Few's team, having a game under their belt and dominating the glass to get the cover.  The Zags blew out St. Mary's in their first meeting by nearly 50 points and then got them by 10 in the rematch.  If Gonzaga gets it going they will smell the number one seed out west and slam the door.  St. Mary's should be in the Big Dance after last night's win over the Cougars but there is still a gap between these two teams.  Ford did have 42 points in the double OT win vs. Pepperdine and another game like that could spell an upset but I think the Gaels run out of gas in the second half.  Gonzaga by 12-20

03/10/2020 9:02 AM