By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU point guard Donovan Dent nailed a 3-pointer with 1.0 left to play to beat No. 14 Gonzaga, 81-80, in front of more than 12,000 at Numerica Veterans Arena on Saturday afternoon in Spokane, Washington.
Dent, a fifth-year senior transfer from UCLA recruited by Gonzaga to transfer, did a couple crossover dribbles and calmly launched the game winner to finish with a game-high 23 points and 10 assists.
The clock was adjusted to 1.5 seconds to go after a timeout by Gonzaga. The Bulldogs inbounded to guard Davis Fogle, who got an open look, albeit from about 39 feet, and he missed. It was over, and LSU had slayed Goliath, which came into the game at 190-9 in Spokane since 2012 and as a 6.5-point favorite.
The Tigers (4-0) trailed by 75-65 with 4:41 to play on a three-pointer by Gonzaga’s Xaivian Lee, but they stormed back.
In just his fourth game in his second term as LSU’s coach, Will Wade – previously the coach from 2017-22 – has already defeated a top 15 team. The Tigers’ last win over a ranked team was 75-74 over No. 17 Kentucky on Feb. 21, 2024, at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on a tip-in by Tyrell Ward at the buzzer. Gonzaga is the highest ranked team LSU has defeated since the Tigers of coach Matt McMahon beat No. 11 South Carolina, 64-63, on Feb. 17, 2024, on the road.
“Incredible win,” Wade said on the LSU Radio Network’s postgame show. “They were 190-9 here in Spokane. Look, we’re a work in progress. We’re not nearly as good as we’re going to be. We didn’t even play well today, and we won a big game.”
A driving layup by Dent got LSU within 79-76 with 1:30 to go. And fifth-year UCLA transfer senior guard Skyy Clark. whom Gonzaga coach Mark Few also tried to get to come to Gonzaga, then hit two free throws with 1:14 to play to cut Gonzaga’s lead to 79-78.
With 12 seconds left, Fogle hit a free throw for an 80-78 lead, but missed the second one. LSU quickly got it to Dent, who dribbled down the last few seconds before sinking the game winner.
Dent hit two three-pointers in all – one at the buzzer in the first half for a 39-37 lead and one more at the end to finish 2 of 4 from beyond the arc. Guard Abdi Bashir added 15 points with 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range.
“Everybody’s getting wet in the locker room,” Bashir said. “We were all throwing water on everyone.”
Gonzaga, which has been to every NCAA Tournament since 1999 under Few and reached national title games in 2017 and ’21, dropped to 2-1 on the season.
Clark scored 14 points for LSU with 3-of-8 shooting from three-point range. Freshman forward Michael Ruzic added 12 points and 12 rebounds with two blocked shots.
LSU hit 12 of 26 from three-point range for 46 %.
“We hadn’t hit a lot of three this season,” Wade said. “We were saving them for tonight.”
Forward Braden Huff led Gonzaga with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Fogle scored 15 points, but made just 1 of 5 from three-point range. The Bulldogs couldn’t match LSU’s shooting from long distance as they finished 5 of 17 on threes for 29 percent. Isaiah Harwell added 14 points for Gonzaga.
“Today we confirmed that we have a long way to go, but we have a lot to grow with,” Wade said and headed to the showers.
“They doused me with water in the locker room,” he said. “And Donovan, too. I’ve got to go take a shower.”
LSU’s height inside matched that of Gonzaga as team had 42 rebounds.
“We work our asses off,” Wade said. “We’re working late nights a lot. This is what you do it for.”
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