Story Links
March 16, 2001
By ELIZABETH A. DAVIS
AP Sports Writer
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Gonzaga is causing trouble for the big guys again.
Casey Calvary put back a blocked shot with 9.2 seconds left to give the12th-seeded Zags an 86-85 win over Virginia in the opening round of the SouthRegional on Friday.
After barely missing the Final Four in 1999 and reaching the regionalsemifinals last year, Gonzaga (25-6) doesn’t sneak up on anybody. In the pasttwo years, they knocked out second-seeded teams in the second round.
“We weren’t crazy about playing them,” Virginia coach Pete Gillen said.”They are much better than a 12 seed. It’s not the committee’s fault. Theyhadn’t seen Gonzaga. These guys are tremendous.”
Dan Dickau, a junior point guard who sat out last season after transferringfrom Washington, scored 29 points and took the shot that Calvary grabbed andput in for the winner.
Dickau scored 21 of his points in the first half and finished 9-of-19 fromthe field and 6-of-9 on 3-pointers.
“Dickau was hitting shots. Loose balls, they’d go get them, he’d have them.Bang! Three!. He’d be way out, shoot a scud, hit the rim, hit the backboard, goin. He was on fire,” Gillen said.
Gonzaga was ahead by as many as 13 in the second half and looked in controlheading down the stretch. But Virginia cut it to 82-80 on Roger Mason Jr.’s3-pointer with 3:25 left.
Mason hit another 3 two minutes later to give Virginia it’s first lead,85-84, with 1:28 left. Freshman J.C. Mathis, a 49 percent shooter from the foulline this season, was fouled with 21.4 seconds left but missed the free throw,giving Gonzaga another chance.
Adam Hall blocked Dickau’s shot, but Calvary grabbed the rebound and put itin for the one-point edge.
“I wanted to get in the middle of the lane and get up a shot. I was eithergoing to make it or I knew (Calvary) was going to pick up the scraps and put itin,” Dickau said.
Mason then missed on a drive as time expired as players scrambled for theloose ball.
Calvary added 16 points and 15 rebounds for Gonzaga, Alex Hernandez 15 andZach Gourde 12.
Mason had a career-high 30 for Virginia and Donald Hand had 14.
Trailing by 13, the Cavaliers had a 13-4 run capped by Keith Friel’s third 3in a row with 9:03 left that cut it to 70-66.
But Dickau hit a 3-pointer to put the Zags back up by seven. Virginia cut itto four twice but each time Gonzaga’s defense held until the final minutes.
Travis Watson’s basket with 3:25 left cut it to 82-80, and Calvary scored topush the lead back to four. But Gonzaga didn’t score again until Calvary’sfinal basket.
“I felt like we were just trying to always shore things up. Even on thelast play, we were able to kind of shore things up and then dig out theboard,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said.
The Cavaliers just couldn’t get their shots to go in the end.
“We had a chance to win with the free throws, we had a chance to win withthe blocked shot, had a chance to win with Roger’s shot. We had three chancesto win the game,” Gillen said.