Analysis: Gonzaga tightens up on defense, races past overmatched Warner Pacific 109-52 in final exhibition

Oct. 31—Mark Few urged Gonzaga to tighten things up on the defensive end of the floor after the Bulldogs listlessly gave up 96 points to USC during Saturday’s exhibition in Palm Desert, California.

The message sank in for Gonzaga after about 10 minutes during Wednesday’s exhibition against Warner Pacific — an NAIA club from Portland — at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

The Bulldogs ripped off their largest run of the game — fueled by a slew of Warner Pacific turnovers and fast-break opportunities going the other way — and kept the momentum going the rest of the way to pick up a 109-52 victory in their final tuneup before Monday’s season opener against eighth-ranked Baylor.

Gonzaga was leading 21-19 when a lineup featuring Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, Dusty Stromer, Michael Ajayi and Graham Ike went on a 12-0 scoring spree that turned into a 36-3 run with 2 minutes, 25 seconds remaining in the first half.

The Zags did it with aggressive on-ball defense that led to deflections on many of WPU’s passes, forcing the Knights into 15 first-half turnovers, 23 total and seven during one 7-minute stretch in the first half.

“It was much, much better,” Few said of GU’s defense. “I thought obviously, different level of competition, but much, much better. More active, more alert, more doing what we want to do.”

After leading by two points with 10:38 remaining, the Zags entered halftime leading 64-27 and scored 88 of the game’s final 121 points.

Ike credited the defensive adjustment to Gonzaga playing with “a little more thrust.”

Expanding on that thought, the senior forward said, “Everybody was talking a little more, a little more active on that side of the ball ultimately and that affected the game defensively.”

Few experimented with another starting lineup after opening the USC exhibition with a five-man unit that included Nembhard, Khalif Battle, Ajayi, Ben Gregg and Ike.

Nembhard, Battle and Ike were the three holdovers, but Hickman replaced Ajayi and Braden Huff took Gregg’s spot…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/analysis-gonzaga-tightens-defense-races-020300469.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2024-11-01 02:03:00

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