Gonzaga Basketball: 3 keys for Bulldogs to beat No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes

3. Get into a rhythm early

Concerns about Gonzaga’s layoff may be overblown, but there’s a reason they exist. It’s hard to go from zero basketball activity to facing one of the top teams in the country, who isn’t working from a similar circumstance.

Gonzaga has not played in a game since December 2, meaning it will have been 17 days since their last game when they play Iowa. But that’s just part of the story.

Gonzaga hasn’t even been able to practice in recent weeks, only hitting the court on Thursday. Mark Few told the Associated Press that players looked “gassed” and compared it to the first day of practice.

Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes have carried on, largely unaffected from a scheduling standpoint by the pandemic. They’ve won their first six games, each in dominant fashion, and have played four times since Gonzaga last took the court for competition, most recently walloping Northern Illinois on Sunday.

This is the season we’re in. It may not be fair that the teams are coming into the game with different conditioning and experience, but everyone is doing the best they can to get through the year. As long as testing comes out okay, this game is going to happen.

Gonzaga will need to shake off the rust quickly and get into a rhythm. If they can hold steady and not fall into a big hole for the first few minutes, they can get back to what they do best for the rest of the game.