Gonzaga Basketball: Takeaways from road win over Arizona

1. Free-throw shooting…still a concern.

I have talked about Gonzaga’s poor free-throw shooting to begin this season on several different occasions. And while I want to stop coming back to this point, the Bulldogs just continue to struggle at the charity stripe and it nearly haunted them against Arizona. Over the course of this contest, they shot just 17-for-30 (56.7%) from the free-throw line with just about everyone struggling.

Filip Petrusev was the biggest culprit in this game as he shot just 4-for-9 at the stripe. He is Gonzaga’s most important foul shooter considering his high fouls-drawn rate and needs to be better at the line as a result.

Gonzaga opened up a 16-point lead in the second half of this game and nearly gave it away due to poor defense and foul-shooting. From the 1:28 mark to the final seconds of the game, Gonzaga shot just 1-for-6 and allowed Arizona to make a 15-1 run to make a two-point game. Thankfully, Ryan Woolridge was able to come through with a pair of foul shots to seal the deal with a second left, but the team should have left Tucson with a much easier victory than it was.

Of course, the Bulldogs were still able to secure the win so it’s not worth complaining about the finish too much, but it wasn’t pretty.

Moving forward, Gonzaga still needs to improve at the free-throw line. This facet of the game remains a weakness for the Bulldogs and it will hurt them down the stretch of games throughout this season. Although Gonzaga’s most difficult games are mostly in the rear-view mirror now, the WCC does provide more challenges than normal this season. Gonzaga will have a tougher time rolling through the league compared to recent years and foul shooting could be crucial in a game or two.