March Madness 2024: How Gonzaga saved its season to set up Sweet 16 rematch with Purdue in NCAA Tournament

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DETROIT — When Gonzaga lost 77-76 in overtime at Santa Clara on Jan. 11, it sent the Bulldogs spiraling out of the AP Top 25 poll in the month of January for the first time since 2016.

Losing to Broncos for the first time in 13 years dropped the Zags to 11-5 — their worst record at the point on the calendar since 2011 — and left them on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble in Bracketology projections around the country.

While Gonzaga had defeated brand-name programs like Syracuse, USC and UCLA during nonconference play, the subsequent struggles of those teams throughout the season left the resume sorely lacking pop. 

“Whew, we had some pretty rough patches there early, if you watched some of our practices and even some of our early games,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said Thursday.

It’s those rough patches which make Gonzaga’s ninth consecutive Sweet 16 appearance so fulfilling for Few and his squad, which takes on No. 1 seed Purdue in the Midwest Regional semifinals on Friday at Little Caesars Arena.

The game will be the ultimate measuring stick for Gonzaga, which lost 73-63 against the Boilermakers on Nov. 20 in the opening round of the Maui Invitational. While the Bulldogs have obviously improved since those early-season struggles, the question is whether they have improved enough to solicit a different outcome against the top-seeded Boilermakers.

“The biggest thing is probably just how many games we’ve played since then,” redshirt junior center Graham Ike said. “Our connectivity and our synergy is on a whole ‘nother level than it was when we were playing our fourth game against Purdue. We’re clicking right now on the right page.”

Following four years of illustrious success with three-time All-American forward Drew Timme as a focal point of the roster, the Zags were still establishing their identity during the first meeting with Purdue. It was a process that took months….

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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/march-madness-2024-how-gonzaga-saved-its-season-to-set-up-sweet-16-rematch-with-purdue-in-ncaa-tournament/

Author : David Cobb

Publish date : 2024-03-28 19:36:12

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