Gonzaga basketball coach Mark Few is trying to keep his team focused after a blowout win over Baylor. The Bulldogs looked dominant after thrashing the no. 8 Bears, 101-63.
Gonzaga hit 13 3-point shots in the game, to get the impressive victory. Few thinks his team did a good job stopping Baylor's top players in the contest.
“We put 100 up today on a great team and kind of a scary team. I mean, they're really, really, really athletic and can do a lot of different things on the defensive end, mix it up, ” Few said, per Sports Illustrated. “Our guys made the right read, made the right play and came down to get good ones and got great ones.”
Gonzaga basketball was led by Nolan Hickman, who poured in 17 points.
Gonzaga looking to continue its success in a mid-major conference
Gonzaga is getting ready to leave the West Coast Conference, and head to the Pac-12. The Bulldogs have made their footprint as arguably the best college basketball brand on the West Coast, and it looks like the team is set for another strong season.
Few is used to keeping up a standard of excellence at the school. Gonzaga has made the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 four years in a row. The school has also made the national championship game twice in the last decade, but lost both times. The Gonzaga basketball program is once again ranked in the Associated Press college basketball poll, at no. 6.
The Gonzaga basketball coach says his team's defense was the key to victory against Baylor.
“We were in gaps, we made some nice plays off the ball,” Few added. “So they did an awesome job of taking the message after that exhibition and executing it, because you can't guard those guys one-on-one, we really had to be in our gap defense.”
Following the Baylor game, Few talked about the importance of playing top 10 teams in the early days of the college basketball season. Gonzaga basketball stacked its non conference schedule with some big games, to try and boost its resumé for March Madness.
“I’m sure it was a great show for everybody watching on TV,” Few added. “I wish we could have got an earlier TV time … but again, we're trying to send a message that these games are important, and we got to get college basketball kind of out in the forefront instead of waiting until March.”
Gonzaga basketball next plays Arizona State on Sunday.