SAN DIEGO -- This was one of those games when you know you're watching an All-American live up to his reputation.

Sensing the game is going in the opposite direction, the star player, the one who is supposed to be the leader, suddenly takes over.

	The night didn't start out well, but in the end, Dan Dickau could celebrate with Cory Violette.

Shot, after shot, after shot.

Gonzaga senior point guard Dan Dickau had a pedestrian look to him in the first half, scoring just two points, missing four of five shots, playing only 14 minutes as the supposedly-No. 1 seed hopeful Gonzaga Bulldogs were down a point to their bitter rival Pepperdine in the West Coast Conference tournament title game.

But great college players don't just fade away in the biggest game of the season to date. They do what they've been programmed to do -- take the game over and make it their own.

Dickau did just that Monday night. It was simply one of the best 6 minute, 26-second stretches a player has had this season. It compares with what Jason Williams has been able to do at times for Duke.

Dickau scored 19 points in that stretch, taking the Bulldogs from down seven to up 11 with 5:21 remaining. The stretch included a four-point play when he was fouled on a 3-pointer. He had floating mid-range jumpers, with a Pepperdine player draped over him. He went baseline for a layup. He deftly sank 3s from way beyond the 3-point line. And he made free throws. Dickau ended up scoring 23 of his game-high 29 points in the final 11:47 of Gonzaga's 96-90 victory at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on the campus of the University of San Diego.

"All he needs is a little look and he makes the shot," Pepperdine's Jimmy Miggins said. "He's got such a quick release. We just hoped he missed."

"We had a lapse and he caught fire," Pepperdine's Terrance Johnson said. "And once he got going there's nothing you can do."

It was certainly first-team all-American-esque on a five-member team that still has an open spot next to Williams, Maryland's Juan Dixon, Kansas' Drew Gooden and Cincinnati's Steve Logan.

It was simply sensational for a team that still has visions of being a No. 1 seed, or at the very worst a No. 3, either way the highest Gonzaga has ever been seeded in the NCAA Tournament.

"He's magical man, magical," said Gonzaga coach Mark Few, who had to keep Dickau's wing mate Blake Stepp in the game in the first half with two fouls because he said the Zags can't afford to be without either guard on the court. "You know it's going in when it comes off his hand. We were getting worried, though. It just seemed like it was later than usual for Dan. Just when I went down to tell Billy (Grier, a Gonzaga assistant) that, Dan went bang, bang and just hit shots."

Dickau's teammates weren't fretting his rather quiet first 28 minutes.

"I've never worried about Dan showing up once in my life," Gonzaga forward Cory Violette said. "If he is missing shots, he just keeps shooting. He didn't have to score in the first half because we were owning the inside."

That was good enough for the Bulldogs to be within one to one of the most versatile offensive teams on the West Coast. The Waves kept coming at Gonzaga with Devin Montgomery, Glen McGowan, Boomer Brazzle and Mike Westphal all making at least one 3-pointer.

To combat that, the Bulldogs had to make 3s themselves, and that task falls to Dickau and Stepp. Finally feeling healthy from a nagging injury, Stepp buried five 3s to compliment Dickau's four and finished with 24 points.

"The way Cory and Zach (Gourde) were going in the first half, I didn't feel like I had to do everything," Dickau said. "But teams are going to look to me to make big shots and they give me the ball to do that."

Dickau had 34 in the first half against Loyola Marymount this season. He made 3-pointers on seven-straight possessions for 21 points in just less than five minutes. But that was against Loyola. This was against Pepperdine and the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament was on the line for the fourth straight time for the Zags.

"It was just one of those things where one shot went down, then another and I was getting my rhythm," Dickau said. "When that happened, the basket looked as big for me as it has all year."

And that's why the Bulldogs pulled away and why they can earn a top three seed and make a run for a fourth straight Sweet 16. Having Stepp be on Dickau's tail, Gourde and Violette finish in the post and the Zags' defense hold on late in the game are all signs this team is on track to make another tourney run.

"If teams lose this week, then I don't see how we won't be bandied about as a one seed," said Few of the 29-3 Bulldogs, who have lost only one game -- at Pepperdine Jan. 18 -- since a Great Alaska Shootout final loss to Marquette on Nov. 24.

"Certainly we should get a two seed," Few said. "I don't know what will factor in, like the league. We did everything they wanted with our preseason schedule and went on the road. We did everything the committee asks."

So, too, did Pepperdine. The Waves played a brutal schedule and are one of two teams to sweep the Pac-10's L.A. schools -- USC and UCLA -- in Los Angeles. The other one was Pac-10 champ Oregon.

The Waves, 22-8, lost only two games since a Dec. 28 defeat at Arizona. And both those losses were to Gonzaga.

Pepperdine should not only be in the field of 65, but also should get a decent seed.

"And when their name pops up, some team is going to be very, very nervous," Few said. "They're going to win some games in the NCAA Tournament. Somebody will have their hands full. They're so versatile and score so many different ways that you can't get a handle on them."

"It's hard to ignore us," Pepperdine's Johnson said. "We had the strength of schedule that was very tough (with games at Oregon, against Georgia, at Arizona, Brigham Young, at Utah plus the UCLA and USC games). We can be real dangerous in the NCAA Tournament."

Pepperdine is all over the court defensively, trapping at times and playing straight man at others. They can finish in the post, have a shot-blocker and shot-altering post player in Cedric Suitt. They are close to the Zags, close enough that it would be a joke if they weren't given a decent seed. They're that good.

"Since Glen McGowan came back (from a first semester suspension), we've won 17 of 19 games," Pepperdine coach Paul Westphal said of his forward who scored 10 off the bench Monday. "We lost to the No. 6 team in the country twice. That's it. We're dangerous."

The only thing missing is a true star, someone like Dickau who can single-handedly take over a game.

"He's a phenomenal winner," Westphal said. "That's what he is."

And that's the difference for Gonzaga. And it makes the Zags a threat to go deep in the tournament and live up to their No. 6 ranking.

For those who don't believe it, watch a six-minute stretch from Monday's game to be convinced.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.