The Gonzaga Bulldogs earned a quality win on the road as they took down the San Diego State Aztecs, 80-57. Here are a few things that stood out to me:
- The big difference between this year’s squad and last year’s squad is the depth, and this game was the perfect showcase for it. Khalif Battle and Graham Ike were both hampered by first half foul trouble, and Battle’s would extend to the rest of the game. Braden Huff stepped in nicely during Ike’s absence, finishing with 10 points in the half. Last year, virtually any of the starters going to the bench meant the chances of a win decreased dramatically. This year, not so much.
- Ike wanted to win in that second half and you could tell it. After picking up two fouls in the first two minutes of the game, Ike didn’t get a chance to cook until the second half. He feasted on the youth of Magoon Gwath and destroyed the freshman down low until he ultimately fouled out. Ike led the Zags with 23 points and 20 of those came in the second half, when he hit 6-of-7 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the free throw line. He consistently got himself into invincible territory in the post. The offensive focus hasn’t necessarily been on Ike to start the season, tonight it was.
- San Diego State’s defense, as expected, hounded the Zags into a rough shooting night, just 42.1 percent from the floor. However, Gonzaga still finished at 1.231 points per posession thanks to efficiency from the charity stripe. As a team, Gonzaga went 27-for-31, netting 14 more points for free than the Aztecs. Through four games, the Zags are shooting 79.6 percent from free throw, up from 72.6 from last season. These seemingly minor increases are the things championship-level teams make.
- After wowing the Gonzaga fan base for the first three games, Battle’s fourth was one to forget, same as his fourth foul, which ultimately sent him to the bench. Battle just tried to blatantly push his way through a screen and was called for it. It was a pretty obvious frustration foul on what no doubt was a frustrating night for the senior. He finished with just five points and three turnovers in 20 minutes.
- San Diego State’s home crowd is a good one, but credit to Gonzaga for taking them out of the game. Every time The Show tried to wake up and get back into it, Gonzaga had an answer to comfortably keep the game in the low double-digits. Although the Zags seemingly couldn’t put the Aztecs down, they also held their own in terms of momentum in the road environment. That is why you schedule these away games.
- CBS Sports had a weird camera angle of the hallway outside the San Diego State locker room that we got to see a lot of, as Aztec after Aztec was trucked back there for various levels of injury. It reminded me of a WWE production and I’m not sure I need to see it again.
- San Diego State did a great job on defense of controlling the tempo and the Zags didn’t get the chance to run as much as they normally would like, finishing with just 10 fastbreak points. And yet, they still won comfortably by 13 overall. This offense is so multi-faceted, slowing them down makes them a little less efficient, sure, but apparently not any less lethal.
- I can’t talk about the offense so much without a shout out to the Gonzaga defense, because it was stellar last night. The Zags switched on everything, employed different looks all night, and they held San Diego State to just 37.7 percent from the floor. Nick Boyd was an absolute boss, finishing with 23 points, and BJ Davis chipped in a big 15, but not a single other player looked like they could get any any sort of offensive rhythm. Through four games, I do think that Gonzaga’s offense is so good the defense just needs to breathe. But if the defense is also a step up, that makes it that much sweeter.