The Gonzaga Bulldogs are back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2015. Their reward is a matchup against the No. 1 seeded Texas Longhorns in the more friendly confines of Spokane, in what will be an entertaining battle against too high scoring teams.
If you enjoy offense in your basketball, this will be the game to tune into. Gonzaga and Texas both average just a tick over 80 points per game. While Texas is the obvious favorite going into the matchup, Gonzaga has the offensive weapons to force the issue and has displayed all season they can hang with the best teams in the nation.
Texas is a terrifying rebounding team
One of the main keys for Gonzaga in this game will be to limit the second-chance points, because that is where Texas grinds opponents into dust. They have four players averaging at least two offensive rebounds per game and their OR% ranks No. 2 in the nation at 42.2 percent.
Gonzaga is also a great defensive rebounding team, with Yvonne Ejim and Eliza Hollingsworth more than capable of holding their own. How those two preform on the defensive glass might determine the outcome of this game. Texas is just too good of a team to allow a multitude of second-chance points.
Can Texas withstand the Gonzaga three-point barrage?
Gonzaga went absolutely nutty from three against Utah, hitting 12-of-22 from long range. What makes that a bit more scary is that Brynna Maxwell, one of the nation’s best three-points shooters, spent the game absolutely smothered and only got off three attempts.
The announcers are going to talk about how Texas is a great three-point shooting team because they are–they hit 36.5 percent as a team, good for No. 14 in the nation according to HerHoopStats.com. The kicker? Three-pointers account for just 14.6 percent of the Longhorns’ points, the fourth-lowest total in the nation. In Texas’ victory over Alabama in the second-round, they attempted just five outside shots!
In Texas’ three losses this season, opponents have hit 10, 10, and nine threes, as opposed to Texas’ three, two, and four, respectively. The Longhorns leave a lot of points on the floor in that way.
Gonzaga wins if
Brynna Maxwell gets some space and lights it up from three while Ejim goes nuts and gets the buckets in the post. The Gonzaga offense is lethal when the shots are falling. All of the guards have super quick releases and aren’t afraid to take some mid-range jumpers. The high-low action between Eliza Hollingsworth and Yvonne Ejim is nearly unguardable. When it is all clicking, not even a team defense like Texas can slow it down.
Texas wins if
The Longhorns bottle up the Zags outside shooters, because they have the size to make things difficult inside the three-point arc. Although Texas has an incredibly good and efficient offense, the Zags’ offense is more explosive thanks to that three-point shot. If the Texas defense is able to limit that explosiveness, they very well could just grind Gonzaga into dust.