Gonzaga Basketball: Zags squeak by Iowa State to win Advocare Invitational

After blowing an 18-point lead, Gonzaga basketball closed out Iowa State to win the Advocare Invitational.

If you like drama, this was the perfect game for you. From start to finish, the Gonzaga Bulldogs and Iowa State Cyclones played aesthetically pleasing basketball.

In the best game of the Sunday slate, the 11th ranked Bulldogs squeaked out a 73-71 victory over the 21st ranked Cyclones to win the Advocare Invitational in Florida.

Nigel Williams-Goss was the top scorer for the Bulldogs, as he dropped 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Josh Perkins (12 points) and Przemek Karnowski (11 points) also scored in double figures for the Zags.

Gonzaga jumped out to an early lead thanks to their sharp shooting, terrific ball movement and offensive balance. Mark Few’s team looked unstoppable, as they shot 67 percent from the field overall and 73 percent from beyond the arc in the first half. Those are absurd numbers for 20 minutes of play, highlighting the Zags’ ability to operate both inside-and-out and Iowa State’s poor defensive presence.

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The Bulldogs clearly recognized their size advantage, and were confident pounding the ball in the paint with Karnowski.

However, the game completely flipped after the half. Iowa State went on a 17-5 run from the 16:34 mark to the 9:08 mark to cut Gonzaga’s lead down to just two points.

Deonte Burton, who scored a game high 29 points, was absolutely outstanding during this stretch. He played both the four and the five position, but impacted the game more at center due to his ability to stretch the floor, attack off the bounce and finish at the rim over length.

Burton was even solid defensively, as he limited Karnowski and even blocked one of his shots under the basket.

Gonzaga started turning the basketball over and Iowa State tightened up defensively. In fact, other than the first 20 minutes of Sunday’s game versus the Zags, the Cyclones have been impressive on the defensive end of the floor during the entire tournament. That hasn’t always been the case with Iowa State’s program in the past, especially last season, where their main issues consisted of their lack of production on that end of the floor.

Iowa State never led the game at any point. They went for the win on their final possession, but Monte Morris missed a contested three pointer.

For Gonzaga, they are now 6-0 with wins over Iowa State, Florida and San Diego State. They clearly have the potential to be a dangerous team on the offensive end, and their talent has many saying that this is Mark Few’s best team ever.

They likely won’t shoot 67 percent in a half on many occasions, but their intriguing front court and numerous weapons have them as the current favorite to win the WCC.

On the flip side, Iowa State has to be happy with their performance, not only in the championship game but the tournament as a whole. They almost lost to Indiana State in the opening round, but they also crushed Miami and showed tremendous fight against one of the top teams in the nation.

Their defense looks much improved and Burton is answering the questions in the front court. We haven’t talked much about Morris, but that’s because he is incredibly consistent. On Sunday, he dropped 14 points and dished out nine assists, all while turning it over just once.

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It’s promising that Iowa State nearly won a game in which they let their opponent shoot 49 percent from the field and 52 percent from downtown. Look for them to battle for that second slot in the Big 12, especially if Burton plays like he played in the second half.