A strong offensive start by Gonzaga Basketball couldn’t be sustained, as the Texas Longhorns made a national statement on Wednesday night.
Days coming off an emotional comeback victory over Michigan State in the Armed Forces Classic, Gonzaga Basketball traveled to Austin to take on the 11th-ranked Texas Longhorns in a true road matchup in front of a hostile crowd. Things started off well for the Bulldogs, taking an early lead and trading baskets back and forth.
Unfortunately for the WCC juggernaut, the Longhorns kept scoring and scoring, with little resistance from Gonzaga. The 8-12 lead Texas was having for most of the game soon ballooned into a 20-point lead late. In the end, the Big 12 team won with a final score of 93-74.
While it’s just the third game of the season, some potential concerns have started to emerge for Gonzaga Basketball. Here are three takeaways I had from the loss for the Bulldogs.
1. Can’t rely on just Timme to win
Last season, Drew Timme singlehandedly dominated the Longhorns, scoring a career-high 37 points in the win. He still had a good game with a game-high 18 points on 7/10 shooting from the field. But it was clear that Texas did a much better job guarding him and forcing him to make decisions, turning it over five times. The WCC Player of the Year saved the Bulldogs in the comeback win over Michigan State but wasn’t able to do it again.
At times, the Bulldogs’ best offense is to just throw the ball down low and let Timme go to work. But the Longhorns guards were fantastic in preventing easy passing lanes from the perimeter, forcing 20 turnovers overall. The All-American center was the reason why Gonzaga Basketball was ranked No. 2 to begin the season. He’s been as good as advertised but for the team to be a Final Four contender, the rest has to play well also.
2. Perimeter defense has been bad when not on a boat
When Gonzaga was blown off the floor against Tennessee in an exhibition game, the perimeter defense was a glaring flaw. But since that game didn’t matter, it could be taken with a grain of salt. Yet the Texas game was real and Marcus Carr and Tyrese Hunter thoroughly outplayed the Gonzaga guards and torched them from deep, combining to score 42 points and making 9/17 from deep.
There’s a chance that Texas’ offense has truly taken the leap needed to be a national contender and with the game at home, could’ve given them the edge. But that’s now two power conference teams that have torched the Bulldogs on the perimeter and the Michigan State game can be thrown out the window since it was played outside.
The upcoming Kentucky matchup on Sunday will be very interesting, as shooters CJ Fredrick and Antonio Reeves are coming off a poor performance against Michigan State. If they go off, then the perimeter defense will be on red alert for the Bulldogs.
3. Need more from Rasir Bolton
There’s a lot of talk about the point guard play for Gonzaga, particularly sophomore starter Nolan Hickman and senior transfer Malachi Smith. Both were okay in this game, with Hickman going for eight points and Smith with seven off the bench. They may have been outplayed but one guy flying under the radar of criticism is Rasir Bolton, a 5th-year senior was last season was a double-digit scorer and ranked in the top-10 nationally in three-point shooting (46%).
Against Michigan State, Bolton had just seven points on 2/7 shooting, though he did make a clutch three down the stretch. He made no such shots against the Longhorns this time around, going scoreless in the first half and not doing anything until the game was out of reach. Plus, his perimeter defense has been below-average as well.
Hickman is a true sophomore getting extended minutes, while Smith is a transfer from the SoCon. There’s an expectation that there will be a learning curve, against great competition early in the season. But Bolton, who spent three years at Iowa State and Penn State, doesn’t have that excuse. Gonzaga needs the veteran shooter to start coming up big, with Kentucky being a great time this weekend. Because back-to-back losses will really start to rev up the naysayers of the program.