The Gonzaga Bulldogs picked the right time of the year to play their best brand of basketball.
Gonzaga (24-6, 14-2 WCC) closed the regular season on an eight-game winning streak, the sixth-longest active streak in the country, and has won 13 of its last 14 games overall. It picked up three Quad 1 wins in that stretch, all of which came on the road, including two in the last week over San Francisco on Thursday and Saint Mary's on Saturday. The Zags looked dominant in the Bay Area, as they defeated the Dons and Gaels by an average margin of 15.5 points.
Few teams have been able to slow Gonzaga's offense as of late. Since Feb. 4, it is No. 3 in the country in offensive efficiency, No. 3 in 2-point field goal percentage and No. 1 in effective field goal percentage per Bart Torvik. In the last eight games, the Zags are averaging 89.3 points on 55.8% shooting from the field and 40.9% from downtown.
“We’re playing our best basketball, and it’s March," said Mark Few after the win over Saint Mary's Saturday. "That’s a great sign, and to come into this environment against this team … who I have massive amounts of respect for in just how they compete and how prepared they are, how they play together, it’s a heck of a win.”
Here's more of what Few had to say:
On how Gonzaga managed to shoot 64.8% from the field in the first half against the Gaels:
“Nembhard and making the right basketball play on all his ball-screen actions. Ike, going against a good post defender down there, strong, tough athletic, smart post defender and that’s just a big-time offensive player going against a good defensive player. And then actually some of our other guys stepped up and made shots. Dusty Stromer came in and hit a big shot, Ben hit some big shots, Braden too.”
On Graham Ike and Ryan Nembhard's connection and Gonzaga's improvement over the season:
“That’s been lost in all this, you know, everything. Like ‘what’s wrong with us’, and the bubble and all this stuff and we’ve been getting better. And those two had never even seen each other until basically late summer and let alone played with each other in competitive environments, with other guys and they’re both very sensitive being great teammates, you know, so they don’t want to walk in here and take over. And so we’ve had to settle into what our roles are and everything and even, like what [Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett] said to me after the game, we’ve gotten a lot better and that’s what you’re supposed to do during the season and so I think that’s what’s been lost in all this narrative and crap that’s out there. You know, you got amateurs making comments on TV so that’s what you get.”
On his thoughts regarding Gonzaga's NCAA Tournament chances:
“I don’t even follow that stuff cause it’s just, amateur hour … I’m 60 now so I don’t have to deal with that kind of stuff. I love these guys and I’ll help them … hopefully we’re going to get better and play better next week. [I’ll] play pickleball and get out with my dogs and call it good.”
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