It seems a bit weird to say “let’s hecking go” when the Zags win a game against a KenPom team ranked No. 108, but when that opponent is your “newish” interstate rival in Washington State, that is a valid response.
The Zags headed to Pullman and put on a masterclass in the first half, an impressive feat against an incredibly large (supposedly sold out) and hostile crowd, and from then on it was time to coast on back to Spokane. Gonzaga won 84-63.
A few more observations from the game:
1) We will start off with a shout out to Nolan Hickman. The Gonzaga senior doesn’t get a lot of these, but he was the difference maker last night. Hickman finished with 23 points and was borderline flawless throughout. He hit four-of-five three pointers. He was aggressive in driving to the hoop. Most importantly, when Ryan Nembhard sat on the bench for an extended spell in the first half, Hickman kept the Zags running on lethal. It was one of his best games this season and I would argue one of his best games in a Gonzaga uniform.
2) The only real flaw for Gonzaga was the start of the game, in which Gonzaga mustered a cool two points compared to WSU’s 10. Luckily, this Gonzaga team has depth. Braden Huff and Dusty Stromer came off the bench and immediately poured on the points to jumpstart the offense. Stromer’s back-to-back three pointers were a delight to see.
Stromer has been falling down the depth chart a bit as of late, so seeing him make the most of his limited minutes was nice to see. If he can be a three-and-D guard, he can make an impact on the roster and there is a meaningful place for him in the rotation.
3) The defense in the first half was an absolute dream. The Zags held a very good WSU shooting team to just 33 percent from the floor. Because the WSU bigs are not too keen on posting up, Gonzaga forced everyone into difficult shots, and only LeJuan Watts was able to convert with any sort of regularity. The Cougars hit the free-throw line just twice in the first half.
WSU played better in the second half, but playing better doesn’t mean much when you are already down by 20 points.
4) If you are going to tell me that Ryan Nembhard has zero points and one assist in 20 minutes, I would assume that he had died and that the Zags are planning on forfeiting the rest of the game. Yet, the Zags still dropped 50 (!!!) points on an absurd 1.471 PPP in the first half.
Probably, the first half against Kentucky was the best first half the Zags have played all season. I’d put this game as a very close second. Gonzaga was absolutely phenomenal through 20 minutes and whoops there I go again getting excited about the potential of this squad.
5) This was an important win because of Gonzaga’s next opponent, Randy Bennett and his merry gang of jackholes. This was a “vintage” Gonzaga game against a WCC opponent, only the WCC opponent in this case is a pretty good WSU squad with about 10k fans in the arena. At this point in the season, the metrics game is a game of decimals, and Gonzaga still managed to rise a spot in the KenPom rankings.
6) Let’s hope Khalif Battle can find his mojo by Saturday. He is the sort of player that can give Saint Mary’s fits, but his consistency has been a pretty big issue all season. He only dropped two points in the loss to the Gaels. In the four games after, he was all around what the Zags wanted when they snagged him off the portal: 24 points, 16 points, 9 points (but 7-for-7 from the line), and 24 points.
Then last night: two points off 1-for-6 shooting. One of the big issues is that Battle’s defense is just not good enough to justify him on the floor if his offense isn’t clicking, and for whatever reason, when his shot goes away it absolutely hibernates. That is a tough ticket for the guy that is your second-leading scorer. Hopefully, he finds his juice again in the coming days.