No. 6 Gonzaga opens season with historic rout of No. 8 Baylor: ‘They’re going to have a special year’

Nov. 5—Gonzaga coach Mark Few said several times leading up to Monday’s season opener against Baylor there’s not much difference between the Zags’ starters and top reserves.

Both put on a show against the eighth-ranked Bears. Dusty Stromer and Braden Huff provided big minutes off the bench and the starting five — Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, Khalif Battle, Ben Gregg and Graham Ike — kept the throttle down.

No. 6 Gonzaga raced in front by 19 points at half and cruised to an impressive 101-63 victory in front of a full house of 12,000 at the Spokane Arena.

The 38-point final margin was GU’s largest against a top-10 foe and the largest by any team in a season opener against a top-10 opponent in AP poll history. GU’s previous high was 20 points against No. 2 UCLA in 2021 in Las Vegas and 20 vs. No. 8 Washington in 2006.

“Ton of respect for Gonzaga because if you’re not on point, they make you look really bad,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “Coach (Mark) Few had them ready to go. They really exploited our switching (defensively) and then offensively we did a really poor job — 3 for 21 (on 3-pointers) made us a bad offensive team. Eleven assists, 12 turnovers, only eight second-chance points, that’s not Baylor basketball.

“For Baylor fans that stayed up (for a game that tipped off at 10:30 CT), I promise you we’ll get a lot better. As far as Gonzaga goes, I think they’re going to have a special year, and I always cheer for them when we’re not playing them.”

Stromer hit the first of his three first-half 3-pointers shortly after checking in to put GU on top for good, 11-8. Huff followed with a bucket inside off Nembhard’s assist, Stromer connected on another 3 and Huff added a layup.

“They just came in and played with great confidence and were very, very assertive,” Few said. “That’s the beauty of this team. We have some nice depth.”

Stromer, a 6-6 sophomore wing, and Huff, a 6-foot-10 sophomore forward, combined to score 17 consecutive GU points as the Zags moved in front…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/no-6-gonzaga-opens-season-160200395.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2024-11-05 16:02:00

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