Early in the contest Sean Mallon was attacking the Stanford defense, which otherwise had shut down the Zags, forcing Gonzaga out of their offense and contesting nearly every move the Zags made. Sean hit two jumps shots and a post move for 7 quick points, keeping the Cardinal somewhat close in the first ten minutes of the game, and without this confident and aggressive effort early from Mallon the game could possibly have been out of reach almost before it started. Following up Sean’s good point production, Kuso entered the game and brought the energy the Zags were lacking at the defensive end, which to that point had been torched by Stanford, especially hot shooting Lawrence Hill. Kuso picked up two block shots, a steal and couple other deflections in his first few minutes on the floor, slowing the Cardinal offense and helping the Zags cut into what was already a double digit deficit. Kuso’s defensive energy and assertiveness jump started the rest of the Bulldogs defensively and on the glass, getting the team well on their way to a good defensive game outside of the first ten minutes of the contest. Micah came off the bench mid way through the second half and grabbed some rebounds and did a nice job defensively on Lawrence Hill, who had scored 12 points in the first five minutes. His length and activity on the glass and defensive end created some poor offensive possessions by Stanford, and combined with Kuso’s effort at the same time it got Gonzaga on the come back trial.

Once Sean, Micah, and Kuso provided the jump start the Zags usual major offensive contributors began to step up, cutting the Stanford lead by the half and taking a lead early in the second half. Josh hit two huge threes and pulled down twelve rebounds against Stanford’s tall front line, along with three blocks and numerous other changed shots, on his way to another double-double. The most impressive part of Josh’s night was his defense on the Cardinal’s talented freshmen big men, especially late in the game when he shut them down completely and drew a huge charge. Despite some shooting problems on Wednesday, Bouldin contributed in every aspect of the game, picking up 10 points, including huge free throws late in the game, 7 rebounds and a team high 4 assists. This type of game from Matt, in which he did not shoot well after two high scoring nights previously, shows how versatile he is and the numerous ways he can contribute to Gonzaga’s success as a big guard. Derek struggled early to find his shot against the Cardinal’s tall athletic guards, who faced guarded him to keep him from getting any easy looks from the outside. Down the stretch and in overtime Raivio adjusted nicely and began to attack the basket to get some lay-ins and get himself to the free throw line. When Derek attacks the basket aggressively he becomes almost impossible to guard, because he handles the ball so well and shoots great from the line, as was evident by his scoring late in the game and overtimes on his way to 21 points.

While everybody made major contributions to the huge double overtime win, on Wednesday it was Pargo and Pendo who stepped up the biggest to pull out the Zag win. Pendo has given fantastic efforts all year long, bringing energy, toughness and defense to the team, but Wednesday night he found a new way to contribute, as a go to scorer. Pendo hit open jump shots and attacked the much bigger Stanford defenders aggressively inside, on his way to 14 points, all in the second half and overtimes when the Bulldog’s needed inside baskets the most. Pargo also was at his best later in the game, especially in the two overtimes when he simply took over the game, penetrating against the Cardinal guards and finishing over their shot-blocking big men. Jeremy not only had 23 points, but he also dug out 7 rebounds and 3 steals to go with only 2 turnovers in 45 minutes, leading the Zags once again in an important game when they needed him the most. Pargo has truly come into his own, with his physical gifts and mental toughness and competitiveness giving the Zags exactly what they need in a big time point guard. When it gets to crunch time Pargo’s skills and attitude are taking over games, and as he continues to grow as a player and expand his game Jeremy has a chance to become one of the nation’s best point guards.

The balanced effort and crucial contributions from the Zag players, probably the most balanced effort of the year, was important to the win, but the coaching staff made some great in-game adjustments to give the players a chance to win. Early in the game Stanford was aggressive guarding the Gonzaga on ball screens, especially the Cardinal big men who would almost double the Gonzaga ball handler. Midway through the first half the coaches made an adjustment on the ball screen to take advantage of Stanford’s aggressive defense, immediately leading to a dunk for Josh and couple other open looks for the team which helped jump start the offense. About the same time this offensive adjustment was made the staff began to assert more ball pressure on the Cardinal, both in the full and half court. Stanford had trouble taking care of the ball once Gonzaga rachated up the defensive pressure, both turning the ball over and taking difficult shots. Increasing the defensive pressure and then falling back into the zone to force Stanford’s non-shooters to beat them is what cooled off the Cardinal and put the Zags in position to pick up the win. Gonzaga’s zone was great all night, mainly because the team did a fantastic job of funneling the ball to Stanford’s non-shooters on the perimeter and not allowing the ball inside to the Cardinal’s talented big men. The next great coaching point came on Stanford’s last offensive possession in regulation. Coach Johnson had called a timeout to set up his final shot, and set up a play to attack the Gonzaga zone which they played exclusively since early in the first half. However, coming out of the timeout the Bulldogs came out playing man-to-man defense, throwing the Cardinal play out of the rhythm and forcing a terrible shot which had no chance of going in. This slight adjustment by the staff is what makes the Gonzaga staff one of the best around, as they threw a wrinkle at the Cardinal in the game’s most important possession.

Gonzaga’s great effort from the staff and players alike gave the Zags the win against a very hot Stanford team in their own Maples Pavilion, which maybe the most important win Gonzaga has had because it was a true road win and against a marquee major conference opponent during the WCC season. As has been the case all year the Bulldogs have little time to savor this win as they have the WCC’s Los Angles road swing starting Saturday, but Wednesday night’s double overtime victory on the road against a nationally ranked opponent once again showed that this Zags team can be extremely dangerous and all but assured the Zags another NCAA tournament berth.