Gonzaga Basketball: 3 biggest keys to beat BYU Cougars in Provo in 2021

This past week was crazy for Gonzaga Basketball and its fans. They were originally scheduled to play Santa Clara and LMU but both of those teams were put on pause due to covid issues. There were plenty of rumors and attempts by the coaching staff to land a top-10 opponent, including Houston and Villanova. But after missing on those, the Bulldogs ended up with the Pacific Tigers and BYU Cougars.

After beating them by nearly 50 points a couple of weeks ago, Gonzaga struggled mightily at Pacific on Thursday. They trailed at the half for just the second time this season and were down by as much as seven points with around 13 minutes to go. But a big run and great defense by the Bulldogs allowed them to pull away, winning 76-58. Drew Timme led all scorers with 21 points, while freshman Jalen Suggs had 19.

Gonzaga (18-0, 9-0) will need to have a better performance on Monday against BYU (15-4, 6-2). They’ve won two straight, including scoring over 100 points in a massive road blowout over the Portland Pilots. One of the Cougars’ two losses in conference play came against Gonzaga last month, falling 86-69 in Spokane. Corey Kispert led all players in that game with 23 points, as the Bulldogs raced off to a 30-7 lead to start the game.

But while Gonzaga Basketball is one of three remaining unbeaten teams (Baylor, Drake), they still haven’t forgotten their last loss, which came in Provo against BYU. in the regular-season finale. There won’t be fans and the roster for the Cougars looks very different from the team that defeated Gonzaga but this should be a real test for the favorites to overcome.

Here are three keys for the Bulldogs to get another win over BYU.