Gonzaga men rally in duel with rival; star Patty Mills hurt

SPOKANE — Students camped out for four nights in temperatures that sometimes dipped to single digits.

They exchanged text-mail atrocities with players of the rival school all week. It's like that now when Gonzaga and St. Mary's, the lords of the West Coast Conference, hook up.

Everything was in place for a killer game here at the McCarthey Athletic Center. And it was pointed that way until the best player on the floor, St. Mary's sophomore point guard Patty Mills, left the game late in the first half with a sprained — and possibly broken — wrist.

What remained was for Gonzaga to rescue a game it trailed 39-33 at halftime and win it, 69-62.

The students in the "Kennel Club" could have added this chant to their inventive repertoire: "An-ti-cli-max!"

Victory inched Gonzaga to 15-4 and unbeaten in six games in the WCC, while St. Mary's dropped to 18-2 and 5-1. But even the most drop-forged Zag follower must have felt a little hollow, inasmuch as the team hadn't shown much ability to do anything with the brilliant Australian Mills.

In a span of 5:46 of the first half, he drilled in five threes, helping bring his 22nd-ranked team from a 14-7 deficit to a 29-21 lead. He nailed a sixth for his 18th point of the half, later earning this supreme accolade from Gonzaga coach Mark Few.

"That was a Morrison-like effort," Few said.

Mills didn't discriminate. He did it against Jeremy Pargo, he did it against freshman Demetri Goodson. He did it against a little bit of zone. He looked like he might do it all night, to the tune of about 40.

"He's improved so much," said Few, adding, "last year we played him for the bounce (to drive, rather than shoot)."

But Mills took a spill in the final minutes of the half and left at the final timeout before the break with 3:06 remaining.

He emerged from the locker room with his teammates after intermission. He attempted to put up one perimeter jumper, let the ball fall weakly and shook his head. Coach Randy Bennett gave him a little hug, and he was done.

St. Mary's has more than Mills, but without him, it was going to be a long second half. The Gaels had their final lead at 48-46, but at that point, Gonzaga, stepping up the intensity, pressuring better, guards going to the rim, outscored St. Mary's 12-0 and nursed the lead home.

Mills or not, it was a raucous crowd that had anticipated the occasion. The WCC is pocked this year with too many nags (Pepperdine and Loyola have RPIs of 302 and 310, respectively) and not enough thoroughbreds, so the arrival of a headliner had people primed.

"We owe 'em big-time," said Few of the fans. "It was electric."

Turns out, they were pumped not only in Spokane, but at St. Mary's as well. Gaels center Omar Samhan, a traditional villain for Zags fans, apparently posted a Facebook entry that twitted Gonzaga students for putting up with living in Spokane. Which prompted the Kennel Club to chant at Samhan, "Spo-kane hates you!"

"Their fans were sending all of us messages," said Zags guard Matt Bouldin, who led his team with 17 points. "I got like three of them. It was pretty harsh."

It was another meeting of the two both as ranked teams, so that made the Mills injury all the more a downer. Asked if it felt a bit empty, Pargo said, "A win is a win for us. With him playing, it's a bigger win for us. But you take what you can get."

Outside the Gaels' locker room, Bennett said little to the media about the extent of the injury to Mills, who is a first-round NBA pick in mock drafts for June. Mills hadn't yet been X-rayed, but a Gonzaga team doctor discussed treatment with him, and the possibility of a break wasn't ruled out.

Said Pargo, "I'm hoping for the best for him."

Few appreciated the win, saying Mills doesn't equal St. Mary's. But he knew how much the game changed when Mills left. He has a devilishly quick release on his jumper, and it's questionable whether Gonzaga has anybody who can guard him effectively.

"He's going to have a lot of fun at the next level," said Few.

He looked ready for it Thursday night. As ready as the West Coast was for Gonzaga-St. Mary's.

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com