Gonzaga Basketball: 3 keys for Round of 32 matchup with Memphis Tigers

It wasn’t pretty but Gonzaga Basketball was finally able to pull away from the Georgia State Panthers in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday afternoon. Winning the game against Georgia State moved Gonzaga onto Saturday where they will face the Memphis Tigers.

This is obviously going to be a much more difficult game and one that is going to test Gonzaga a lot especially if they start slow. Memphis and Gonzaga play very similar styles on offense, and while the Bulldogs have more wins and are better coached, Memphis has some players who will pose some matchup problems for Gonzaga.

The two big men Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme dominated the game down the stretch for Gonzaga. Timme had a double-double with 32 points and 13 rebounds. Chet, who was one of the biggest keys for Gonzaga in their game against Georgia State, ended with 19 points, 17 rebounds and 7 blocks. He was all over the place, and those two players as they have so many times before provided the separation that Gonzaga was going to need to win this game going away.

Thursday is over, the Bulldogs survived, and it is now onto Saturday to face a Memphis Tigers team who has been playing their best basketball. Gonzaga is going to have to focus on a lot to beat the Tigers and we all know that coach Few will have them ready to play. What specifically will they need to focus on to beat Memphis?  I will give three keys to a Gonzaga victory below.