Holmgren put a punctuation to the crushing, hitting a 3 and waving to the crowd as he ran back.Ĭronin nailed it when he said his team was not ready for Gonzaga. UCLA took numerous difficult shots and missed most of the open ones it got, going 11 for 41 from the field in the first half.Įven when the Bruins started to somewhat solve Gonzaga’s defense in the second half, they couldn’t stop the Zags. The Zags caused even more problems with their quick hands and feet, swatting away passes and shots to set up transition opportunities. “We didn’t put up much resistance,” Cronin said. Even after the pace slowed, Gonzaga still led 45-25 at halftime. The Zags made eight of their first nine shots and used a 19-2 run to go up 29-8. Gonzaga was at its free-flowing best on offense, picking apart the Bruins with crisp cuts and passes. The Bruins didn’t look so good against Bellarmine on Monday, prompting Cronin to say his team was not ready for Gonzaga after the 75-62 win. UCLA has everyone back, though big man Cody Riley has been out since injuring his knee in the season opener. The Zags have looked just as good, winning their first six games by an average of 31.3 points. Gonzaga lost Suggs and a few others, but Few filled in the roster holes with transfers and talented freshman, headlined by Holmgren. The Zags and Bruins played an all-timer last April in Indianapolis, an epic Final Four game won by Gonzaga on Jalen Suggs’ running 3-point buzzer beater. 2 meeting of teams from the Pacific Time Zone. 12 Houston, Arizona, Oregon and Wisconsin appearing on the marquee. The Strip’s bright lights shined on college hoops luminaries all week, with No. “We’re not a good defensive team and we got exposed by a great team,” Cronin said. UCLA found a bit of a rhythm after an ugly offensive first half but had no chance of stopping the Zags, who shot 56%. Had 19 points, but had to work for everything he got, and preseason All-American Johnny Juzang was held to 11 points. “It was a great atmosphere and it matched perfectly for the game, what was at stake and the two teams that were out there.” “It reminded me of something you’d see in a regional final or regional semifinal,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. Timme was crafty as usual, scoring 18 points in a raucous environment that felt a bit like March Madness. He finished with 15 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots.Īndrew Nembhard was the best player on the floor, according to UCLA coach Mick Cronin, finishing with 24 points. Holmgren stole the show as a soloist at times, denying shots, swooping for dunks and awing the crowd with his agility. Gonzaga shell shocked UCLA (5-1) with a huge early blitz and never let up to beat its second top-5 team this season.
The Zags (6-0) played like Vegas headliners, showing there’s a big gap between No. “It’s what we expect of him and what he expects from himself. “This was not a shock to none of us,” Gonzaga forward Drew Timme said.
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