Gonzaga Basketball: Takeaways from strong home win over North Carolina

SPOKANE, WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 18: Corey Kispert #24 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs controls the ball against Andrew Patek #3 of the North Carolina Tar Heels in the second half at McCarthey Athletic Center on December 18, 2019 in Spokane, Washington. Gonzaga defeats North Carolina 94-81. (Photo by William Mancebo/Getty Images) /

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TUCSON, ARIZONA – DECEMBER 14: Kispert of the Bulldogs shoots. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /

2. Kispert flashed his star abilities.

Rising junior Corey Kispert is really starting to realize his potential as one of the offensive stars for this team. After mainly playing in a sharpshooting tertiary scoring role a season ago, he has taken the next steps in his development so far this season. Most notably, Kispert’s aggressiveness has been notable over the last few games as he is picking his spots incredibly well and attacking when he gets those opportunities. Gonzaga’s biggest strength might be interior scoring this season but Kispert’s floor-spacing as a top-tier scorer opens up the entire offense.

Even when he is not lighting up the scoreboard for 20+ points, Kispert is a game-changing offensive threat. Opposing defenses have to account for him at all times and often gives space for the other players on the floor to operate. Gonzaga’s offense features so many dangerous threats with the ability to win one-on-one matchups and Kispert understands his role as the “light it up” scoring threat. He is the most-likely player to potentially go for 30 on any given night and that is almost what he pulled off against North Carolina.

In the home win over the Tar Heels, Kispert was essentially unconscious. His teammates constantly found him in transition or in the halfcourt and he responded by letting it fly at volume. To put it simply, North Carolina had no answer for the junior wing as he finished the night a game-high 26 points on 10-for-12 shooting (5-for-6 from three). Gonzaga controlled the majority of the second half while holding a double-digit advantage and Kispert is a major reason for that as he consistently made big-time shots whenever UNC started to make a little run.

This performance, though, is not a major anomaly for Kispert. While it’s unreasonable to expect the same levels of efficiency in every game, the junior has been excellent during this recent stretch of difficult competition. Over Gonzaga’s last eight contests dating back to the opener of the Battle 4 Atlantis, Kispert has averaged 18.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 71.0% on twos, 53.5% from three, and 87.5% at the charity stripe.