Gonzaga's Tillie fills big shoes in big way (Jan 06, 2018)
With a 7-foot-1 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award winner at center and a 7-foot 2017 NBA Lottery pick coming off the bench, there wasn't much room for Killian Tillie on the Gonzaga front line last year.
But with Przemek Karnowski graduated and Zach Collins now with the Portland Trail Blazers, Tillie, a 6-10 sophomore, has seen his playing time double as he has become one of the key cogs for this season's Bulldogs.
Tillie, who scored 22 points in 25 minutes in Thursday's win over Pepperdine, and the No. 19 Zags (13-3, 3-0 WCC) will complete a Southern California road trip on Saturday at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles.
"They left me open," Tillie told The (Spokane, Wash.) Spokesman-Review after the Zags routed the Waves, 89-59. "I didn't hesitate, and they went in."
Tillie and the rest of the Zags frontcourt poured in 67 of Gonzaga's 89 points.
"We kind of established our bigs, and we were able to play inside out," Zags coach Mark Few said, "which we haven't really been able to do much this year, as much as we have in the past."
Tillie, who is averaging 24 minutes on the court this season, surpassed the 20-point mark for the fourth time as a sophomore. His freshman-year best was 12 points, although he did hit the game-sealing free throws in the Zags' 77-73 Final Four win over South Carolina.
The Frenchman has a little extra motivation for the two games in Southern California: His parents are visiting from France.
"I had to play good in front of them," he said, with his parents standing nearby. "It was cool to have a good game.
"It's fun to have them here, because I don't see them a lot."
Loyola Marymount (5-9, 0-3) comes into the contest having lost five games in a row, including 65-49 on Thursday night to a Santa Clara team that was coming off a 101-52 pounding in Spokane.
Point guard James Bateman is averaging 17.7 points and 4.6 assists per game for the Lions, who are shooting 45 percent from the field, but struggle from deep (30.8 percent).
Few, always searching for motivating factors as the Zags face WCC also-rans, expects a tough game on the inside.
"They're super-physical. They've got some nice athletes," Few said. "The point guard can really, really score it and does a nice job both in transition and playing with ball screens."
Bateman, who was held to just six points in the loss to Santa Clara, will be facing Gonzaga for the first time after transferring from North Dakota State.
The junior is one of seven new players for the Lions this year.
"It's fun because I get to help (the new guys) learn some things and show them some things," Lions guard Steve Haney told the WCC website. "And, also, with them coming in, they've shown me some things, and I'm learning a lot of different things from them, as well.
"It's just been a lot of fun building new bonds."
Haney is Loyola Marymount's only returning starter and one of just two seniors on the team.
"He's really good as a mentor to our younger guys," Lions coach Mike Dunlap said of Haney.
The game is the second of five road games over a seven-game stretch for the Zags.
