Gonzaga Basketball: 3 keys to beat UCLA Bruins in No. 1 vs 2 matchup

1. Drew Timme will face a different challenge in Myles Johnson

So Gonzaga will be fairly familiar with most of the UCLA players on Tuesday night. There are two newcomers to watch in five-star freshman wing Peyton Watson (who I’m not sure we’ll see more than 10 minutes from), as well as Myles Johnson, a transfer from Rutgers that averaged around eight points, eight blocks, and a couple of blocks a game last year.

Johnson isn’t going to give you much offensively outside of putbacks but he is a legit defender and interior presence, compared to Cody Riley who is more of a scorer. He didn’t look great against Villanova but the Wildcats’ spacing ability was able to take him away from the basket. As long as Timme is on the court, this will be a better situation for Johnson defensively, unless Timme wants to shoot from threes in this game.

To be clear, I’m not saying that Johnson has the advantage in this matchup or that he’ll even “stop” him. This is the same Drew Timme that embarrassed a future NBA star in Evan Mobley last season in the NCAA Tournament, dropped 30 on shot-blocker Kur Kuath when he was at Oklahoma and made it so that head coach Chris Beard of Texas had literally no answers on how to stop him in Spokane over a week ago. Timme will get his but it’s “how” he does it that’s important here.

At bare minimum, Johnson can guard Timme one-on-one throughout the game and try to make him earn his baskets. It also allows UCLA not to double him, which is fatal against a team as good at passing as Gonzaga is all-around. What the Bulldogs should do, however, is force Johnson into as many potential foul situations as possible. None of their backups can deal with Timme and Johnson himself isn’t going to get him in foul trouble. This is a matchup that if Gonzaga can work to its advantage, it’ll cause a chain reaction everywhere that’ll lead to a win.