Gonzaga Basketball: 5 takeaways from Bulldogs tough 3-game road trip

PROVO, UT- JANUARY 12: Drew Timme #2 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs leads the team in celebration at mid court after beating the Brigham Young Cougars in the final seconds of their game January 12, 2023 at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah.(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images) /

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Rudi Williams #3 of the Brigham Young Cougars (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images) /

4. Three-point defense continues to be an area of worry

After the offensive outburst, Gonzaga Basketball is once again the points leader in the country at 86.9 ppg. They rank first in field goal percentage at 52% and are 25th from the three-point line at 38%. But the questions about this team’s viability aren’t on that end but rather on defense. Without shot-blocker Holmgren or a shut-down perimeter defender in Jalen Suggs, the Bulldogs sometimes allow teams to go on runs, especially from deep.

One of the reasons why the last three road games were so close is due to how potent the underdogs were from deep. Here are the results.

San Francisco – 10/23 (44%)

Santa Clara – 5/16 (31%)

BYU – 13/24 (54%)

The results against the Broncos look favorable, although they managed to make a lot of two-point jumpers to keep them in the game. On the season, Gonzaga is okay on perimeter defense but part of it is due to inferior opponents launching threes just to try to keep up. In the losses to Purdue and Texas, their guards made a ton of perimeter shots to dominate the Bulldogs.

Gonzaga isn’t built to be an elite defense this season and in crunchtime, has shown the ability to get stops. But they’ll need to be better on the perimeter, especially when it comes to communication. If they improve, look for there to be fewer close calls in the WCC.