Gonzaga Bulldogs Make College Basketball’s Opening Night Statement Against Baylor Bears

In a Top Ten matchup, No. 6 Gonzaga Bulldogs showed that they aren’t screwing around this season with the victory over No. 8 Baylor Bears in the Spokane Arena, 101-63.

On the opening night of college basketball, all eyes were on the Gonzaga Bulldogs against the Baylor Bears in the Spokane Arena. For good reason, both of these two programs have real national championship aspirations. The Zags a lot more after what was witnessed by the country tonight.

Where to start, where to start? Gonzaga’s Mark Few is in control of what seems like not only the deepest roster that he’s ever had but the most well-connected, unselfish group most can remember in recent history.

Baylor’s Scott Drew and his zone defense had so much trouble against the Zags’ offense with their continuous, skipping-around passing. On the other side, the communication from Gonzaga’s defense was like each player had a hearing aid in their ear. The Zags finished with 25 assists to a mere 11 assists for the Bears.

Baylor couldn’t switch anything defensively throughout the night in front of a wild Spokane Arena crowd, being filled of students and even more die-hard locals alike.

From the time they hit the floor off the bench, the combination of Dusty Stromer and Braden Huff stood out. Those two sophomores have an early growth, tight tandem blossoming. Both have had pressure put on each other since stepping into the program but with the duo now having an understanding of what is asked out of their roles, it was a noticeable difference in just the first game how they can work off one another.

Stromer hit three monumental three-pointers in his first stretch on the floor during the first half and ended up finishing with 11 points as well as 6 rebounds. As for Huff, his time on the weights in the offseason and discipline on the defensive end was visible immediately. The big man contributed 14 points on 7-11 from the field, 3 assists and one major block off the glass.

The 1-2 punch of facilitator Ryan Nembhard (6 points and 11 assists) and his Naismith Trophy candidate counterpart Graham Ike (15 points on 6-12 FG and tied team-high 8 rebounds) will make more of an impact when the Zags are actually in a competitive game. Weird to be saying that against Baylor’s freshman phenom VJ Edgecombe and Duke’s grad transfer Jeremy Roach who just combined for 13 points on 4-20 shooting, much less than each are capable of as the season goes along.

Can’t forget about Nolan Hickman. Every piece that made an impact deserves a declaration. The senior backcourt member for the Zags finished with a game-high 17 points on 3-6 3PT, 6 rebounds which is strange because it seemed quiet compared to what the rest of his teammates put together as a whole. That’s how deep the potential of this rotation can truly be.

Khalif Battle (12 points on 4-8 3PT, 5 rebounds) has historically throughout his collegiate career been in that sixth man role but might just be right for Gonzaga’s starting role this specific season. That’s coming over Michael Ajayi (9 points on 4-5 FG, tied team-high 8 rebounds) who is still the best NBA Draft prospect on the floor for the Zags. It’s really hard to tell after that type of blowout atmosphere but both individuals have the ability to take over a game regardless of their specified role for any night.

Who knows what’s going through Few’s mind right now? The season just started and it’s way-too-early to have these type of takes but this seems like the deepest team that he has ever had under his leadership dating back to 1999.

It’s satisfying to finally get that revenge win over Drew’s Baylor program in that fashion. According to ESPN Stats and Info, Gonzaga’s 38-point win is the largest by any team in a season opener against a Top 10 opponent in the Associated Press Poll history.

Gonzaga next hosts Bobby Hurley’s Arizona State Sun Devils on Sunday for the first time in the McCarthey Athletic Center at 2 PM PT on ESPN.

Hold on, yea. Not going to leave without being aware of this sequence happening.

Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on Twitter @a_cravalho