Furnari: Broncos chances against Gonzaga slim

By Chris Furnari

Somewhere in San Diego, Mark Few is smiling.

The Broncos were able to squeak out a 51-50 victory over San Francisco, a team they beat by 32 in their final regular season meeting.

If the Broncos show up tomorrow at Jenny Craig Pavilion with the same team that played tonight, they don't stand a chance against Gonzaga.

The Broncos committed 19 turnovers in the game and only managed to have four players score points in the contest. John Bryant led the way with 25 points while pulling down 17 rebounds and blocking 7 shots. Bryant was one of the few bright spots of a Bronco team that shot a dismal 8.3 percent from beyond the arc.

Keating and the Broncos will now face the No. 23 ranked team in the nation, which boasts a powerful starting lineup and a deep bench. Jeremy Pargo, the WCC player of the year will undoubtedly pose problems for the Broncos, not only in scoring, but also in ball distribution.

In their last meeting, The Bulldogs routed the Broncos by 34 points in a game that saw all but one Gonzaga player score. If the Broncos hope to even come close to keeping up with the Zags, something has to change.

Keating mentioned in a post-game press conference that Gonzaga and Saint Mary's are pretty much locks for the tournament, and San Diego is a team that is on the bubble, and that the Broncos are the "odd team out."

Of course they are. The Bulldogs don't rely on just two people to share a majority of the scoring load. The Bulldogs don't commit 19 turnovers a game. The Bulldogs are a team that makes the post-season every single year and with that comes experience.

Sure if the Broncos were 100 percent healthy, they might actually stand a chance. Unfortunately, Brody Angley is one of the few guys that can actually run Keating's offense and without him the entire team is lost. While his chances of playing tomorrow night is still unknown after taking a hit to the head in the second half of tonight's contest - after getting a concussion in last week's game -- it is safe to assume that the senior won't be watching what could be his final game as a Bronco from the bench.

Regardless, Angley is not 100 percent, and the Broncos are already missing Zac Tiedeman, who was a regular in the starting line-up at the beginning of conference play. They are also without Andrew Zimmerman, who is nursing mononucleosis.

While Tiedeman and Zimmerman are not two typical players that you would figure into the Bronco line-up as key players, they do provide depth to an already under-talented bench.

Without these players, I think the Broncos chances of making the championship game are very slim. Gonzaga is too experienced and knows how to win.

For the Keating and the Broncos, they will most likely have to wait until next year to break Santa Clara's 14-year WCC Championship drought.