Tuesday, December 21, 2004
THE AXTON (ALMOST) FELL ON GONZAGA
GONZAGA 83, EASTERN WASHINGTON 70
Marc Axton led all scorers with 33 points, but the Eastern Washington senior couldn't quite lead the Eagles to the upset over Gonzaga, as the Zags win 83-70 in Spokane. The game was played at the Spokane Arena, just a few minutes from Gonzaga's campus.
Eastern played with pride and intensity from the start. This is their most important non-conference game of the season. You don't think the Eastern players wouldn't love to go to the malls in Spokane and claim bragging rights? Eastern has not defeated Gonzaga since 1990, so it has been a while.
Gonzaga was in foul trouble for most of the night. Starters Sean Mallon and Derek Raivio each picked up 4 fouls along with reserve Erroll Knight. Fortunately for the Zags, Adam Morrison picked them up.
Morrison has needed to be the go-to guy for Gonzaga, because of their lack of depth right now. And tonight, he scored 25 points, going a solid 8-of-13 from the field. Ronny Turiaf had 17 points to go along with 7 rebounds. Eastern didn't have an answer inside for Turiaf at all. Then again, most teams don't.
For the Kitsap County angle to this post, South Kitsap grad Jacob Beitenger started for Eastern, but couldn't stay out of foul trouble, only playing 9 minutes. He fouled out and scored just 4 points. As a matter of fact, Beitenger's 4 points were the first 4 points of the game. Beitenger is a freshman, so he will have nights like this. He's only starting right now because sophomore Matt Nelson is hurt. Nelson was the Big Sky Conference's Freshman of the Year last season.
Where do the Zags and Eagles go from here?
Gonzaga is headed to Oklahoma City next Tuesday to play the #3 Oklahoma State Cowboys. The last two times the Zags have played a #3 seed, they have won. This past Saturday's win over previous #3 Georgia Tech in Las Vegas and last year's Battle In Seattle win over then #3 Missouri. But Oklahoma State is a damn good ballclub, a veteran ballclub at that. Gonzaga is very young, and it will be very interesting to see how they hold up against an Eddie Sutton-coached team. As long as they don't play "like a JV team" like they did against Illinois, Mark Few won't have too much to complain about.
Eastern will travel to Tucson next Tuesday to take on Arizona. If they play the way they did tonight against Gonzaga, I think the Eagles have a chance. Of course, they need other guys to step it up besides Axton.
Speaking of Axton, I find it amazing that he's at Eastern. This just brings up the fact that Paul Graham did a horrible job in Pullman recruiting. Axton was the Washington 4A Player of the Year at Foss in 2001, yet he wasn't good enough to play on the Palouse? I can understand Washington not signing Axton to a point, but if the Cougars had Dick Bennett in charge of the program 3 years ago, there's no doubt in my mind that Axton would have been playing in Pullman, not Cheney. But it is what it is, and I think the Eastern basketball program is very happy with Axton. He's only brought them their first NCAA Tournament appearance.
Way to go, Inland Northwest basketball fans. Spokane Arena was sold out three weeks in advance for this game. It just goes to show that college basketball in the Inland Northwest is alive and kicking. We all know about Gonzaga's success over the past 6 years, But you can't forget about Eastern's success. They went to their first NCAA Tournament in their history last year and have played in the Big Sky Championship Game every year since 2001.
Current Loyola-Marymount head coach Steve Aggers started the foundation in Cheney, Ray Giacoletti picked up on it in 2000 and now it's Mike Burns' turn to keep the program going in its current state. Burns was an assistant at Eastern under Giacoletti for 3 seasons before going down the road to Pullman last season to be on Bennett's staff. Giacoletti is now in Utah and Burns is back in Cheney. Watching the game tonight, I could tell that Burns has learned a few things from Bennett. Bennett is one of the best defensive coaches in America and for the most part, Eastern played solid defense but just couldn't get anybody into the action besides Axton on the offensive side of things.
To Pat, a loyal reader: We'll do our best covering the Zags here. I've looked at the remaining schedule for Gonzaga and I will have an opportunity to watch most of the games (thanks, Fox Sports Pacific). I know that the Oklahoma State and Missouri games next week are on ESPN 2.
Gonzaga. Oklahoma State. Next Tuesday. Should be a lot of fun. ESPN 2.
Marc Axton led all scorers with 33 points, but the Eastern Washington senior couldn't quite lead the Eagles to the upset over Gonzaga, as the Zags win 83-70 in Spokane. The game was played at the Spokane Arena, just a few minutes from Gonzaga's campus.
Eastern played with pride and intensity from the start. This is their most important non-conference game of the season. You don't think the Eastern players wouldn't love to go to the malls in Spokane and claim bragging rights? Eastern has not defeated Gonzaga since 1990, so it has been a while.
Gonzaga was in foul trouble for most of the night. Starters Sean Mallon and Derek Raivio each picked up 4 fouls along with reserve Erroll Knight. Fortunately for the Zags, Adam Morrison picked them up.
Morrison has needed to be the go-to guy for Gonzaga, because of their lack of depth right now. And tonight, he scored 25 points, going a solid 8-of-13 from the field. Ronny Turiaf had 17 points to go along with 7 rebounds. Eastern didn't have an answer inside for Turiaf at all. Then again, most teams don't.
For the Kitsap County angle to this post, South Kitsap grad Jacob Beitenger started for Eastern, but couldn't stay out of foul trouble, only playing 9 minutes. He fouled out and scored just 4 points. As a matter of fact, Beitenger's 4 points were the first 4 points of the game. Beitenger is a freshman, so he will have nights like this. He's only starting right now because sophomore Matt Nelson is hurt. Nelson was the Big Sky Conference's Freshman of the Year last season.
Where do the Zags and Eagles go from here?
Gonzaga is headed to Oklahoma City next Tuesday to play the #3 Oklahoma State Cowboys. The last two times the Zags have played a #3 seed, they have won. This past Saturday's win over previous #3 Georgia Tech in Las Vegas and last year's Battle In Seattle win over then #3 Missouri. But Oklahoma State is a damn good ballclub, a veteran ballclub at that. Gonzaga is very young, and it will be very interesting to see how they hold up against an Eddie Sutton-coached team. As long as they don't play "like a JV team" like they did against Illinois, Mark Few won't have too much to complain about.
Eastern will travel to Tucson next Tuesday to take on Arizona. If they play the way they did tonight against Gonzaga, I think the Eagles have a chance. Of course, they need other guys to step it up besides Axton.
Speaking of Axton, I find it amazing that he's at Eastern. This just brings up the fact that Paul Graham did a horrible job in Pullman recruiting. Axton was the Washington 4A Player of the Year at Foss in 2001, yet he wasn't good enough to play on the Palouse? I can understand Washington not signing Axton to a point, but if the Cougars had Dick Bennett in charge of the program 3 years ago, there's no doubt in my mind that Axton would have been playing in Pullman, not Cheney. But it is what it is, and I think the Eastern basketball program is very happy with Axton. He's only brought them their first NCAA Tournament appearance.
Way to go, Inland Northwest basketball fans. Spokane Arena was sold out three weeks in advance for this game. It just goes to show that college basketball in the Inland Northwest is alive and kicking. We all know about Gonzaga's success over the past 6 years, But you can't forget about Eastern's success. They went to their first NCAA Tournament in their history last year and have played in the Big Sky Championship Game every year since 2001.
Current Loyola-Marymount head coach Steve Aggers started the foundation in Cheney, Ray Giacoletti picked up on it in 2000 and now it's Mike Burns' turn to keep the program going in its current state. Burns was an assistant at Eastern under Giacoletti for 3 seasons before going down the road to Pullman last season to be on Bennett's staff. Giacoletti is now in Utah and Burns is back in Cheney. Watching the game tonight, I could tell that Burns has learned a few things from Bennett. Bennett is one of the best defensive coaches in America and for the most part, Eastern played solid defense but just couldn't get anybody into the action besides Axton on the offensive side of things.
To Pat, a loyal reader: We'll do our best covering the Zags here. I've looked at the remaining schedule for Gonzaga and I will have an opportunity to watch most of the games (thanks, Fox Sports Pacific). I know that the Oklahoma State and Missouri games next week are on ESPN 2.
Gonzaga. Oklahoma State. Next Tuesday. Should be a lot of fun. ESPN 2.
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