Gonzaga Faces Indiana in Round 2 of the Battle 4 Atlantis

Gonzaga needs to shake off an uncharacteristic early season loss and show up ready to play against an Indiana team with a lot to prove. Game starts at 11:30 Pacific on ESPN2

So, You Lost to an Unranked Nobody? Don’t Panic!

I’ve come up with a small checklist for any top-5 college basketball team to consult if they’re considering coughing up a loss to an unranked team but still don’t want to give their fanbase any actual reason to panic about their less-than-stellar performance.

If You’re Going to Lose, Make Sure You…

1. Lose to a Team Playing Out of Their Minds – We’re talking career highs, circus shots, and a level of play they’ll probably never replicate. Basically, make them look like the 2015 Golden State Warriors for one night only.
2. Play Your Worst Game of the Season – Everyone—starters, bench, coaching staff—needs to have an off night. Except for maybe one guy. Let him absolutely go off so fans can cling to something positive.
3. Keep It Close – Take it to overtime. Make it come down to a couple of bad possessions or some questionable 50/50 calls.
4. Find Refs Who’ve Never Seen a Basketball Game – The more bizarre the officiating, the better. It should look like the refs have money on the line.
5. Make sure it’s not just the players – It’s easy for fans to forget that the guys on the court are 18-21 years old. Try and make sure some portion of the blame can be shared with your Hall of Fame head coach. If even the best coach in the game can show some late game lapses in focus it must just be one of those nights, right?
6. Lose at a Neutral Site in a Weird Venue – Bonus points if the game happens in a totally different country and in a time zone that messes with everyone’s sleep. Losses at home sting, losses on the road are more understandable, losing in the tropics in a venue not meant for playing basketball just adds an additional layer of weirdness to the whole disastrous spectacle.
7. Turn It Into a “Learning Experience” – It’s all about grit, cohesion, and intensity after this. Spin the loss as a valuable teaching moment and make sure there are some very clear and easily made adjustments to prioritize.
8. Do It in November – Preferably on a short week in which lots of very good teams are also coughing up bad losses to unranked teams
9. Get Back in the Saddle – Schedule a game against a top-25 team immediately after your loss
10. Win – Crush that team by 30+. Crisis averted.

The Zags Have Checked All the Boxes… Except 2

Now it’s time to burn the game tape, rest up, and figure out what exactly a Hoosier is. Tomorrow, they face Indiana University, and it’s time to prove that their ugly overtime loss to a West Virginia team playing like their lives depended on it was just a bump in the road and not a sign of things to come.

Meet the Hoosiers

In a bizarre twist of fate, Indiana, ranked 14th, are also coming into tomorrow’s matchup following their own humiliating loss. The Hoosiers were dismantled by Louisville in their opening game at the Battle 4 Atlantis, falling 89-61. Louisville dominated every facet of that game, scoring 52 points in the second half and shooting 57% from the field. They crushed Indiana in the paint, outscoring them 48-20, and forced 23 turnovers from the defensive side of things. The Hoosiers never led against the Cardinals and trailed by as many as 38 points. If Gonzaga’s loss to West Virginia looked bad, Indiana’s defeat was a full-blown Hindenburg-level catastrophe.

This means Gonzaga could face one of two versions of Indiana: a team demoralized and exhausted, or a squad with something to prove and a burning desire for redemption. The team with more fire—and composure—will come out on top.

Indiana’s Threats

If we consider Indiana’s blowout loss an outlier and not the norm, Gonzaga will have their hands full. The Hoosiers rely heavily on the inside-out game of point guard Myles Rice and center Oumar Ballo to power their offense. It’s a very meat and potatoes old school style of half court offense and they run it well. There’s very little defense available for stopping a player like Oumar Ballo and Gonzaga will need to dig deep into its bag of tricks to slow him down.

Ballo, standing at seven feet tall, is averaging 12 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 70% from the field so far this season. One of the best true centers in the game, he presents a significant matchup problem for Gonzaga’s frontcourt, part of which lacks size and the other part of which lacks defensive consistency. Former Coug Myles Rice, meanwhile, is shooting 47% from beyond the arc and averaging 15 points per game. However, he was neutralized by Louisville, shooting just 1-for-11 and scoring only three points.

Forward Malik Reneau was the lone bright spot for Indiana in their loss, scoring 21 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Another key player is sophomore Mackenzie Mgbako, who started the season on fire but has cooled off recently. He managed just 8 points against Louisville, but he’s capable of exploding for 30-plus on any given night. Despite his inconsistency, Mgbako is averaging an impressive 18.5 points on 59% shooting. Like WVU’s Haysberry, Reneau is an athletic rebounder who likes to attack at the rim. It’ll be up to Ajayi and Gregg to contain him without getting themselves into foul trouble.

Size is a significant advantage for Indiana. Reneau and Mgbako stand at 6’9”, while Ballo is a towering 7’0”. The Hoosiers play fast, apply relentless defensive man-on-man pressure, and thrive in the half-court. Zag fans should take zero solace in the fact that they’re a lot like West Virginia, just a lot more skilled and way bigger.

What Gonzaga Needs to Do

Shake it Off – Gonzaga cannot afford another performance like the one against West Virginia. They won’t win another game in the Bahamas if they play that poorly again. It’s important to remember, though, that this is just November. The team isn’t going undefeated, they won’t leave the Battle 4 Atlantis as champions, and their ranking will drop. None of that matters. What matters is how they respond.

Go at their Bigs – The Zags are going to need to find a way to get Reneau, Mgbako, and Ballo off the floor for as much time as possible. I imagine some crafty iso-ball dribble drives for Nembhard and Battle aimed directly at the chests of Indiana’s bigger frontcourt. This could help get the Hoosier bigs in some foul trouble and allow Huff/Ike to attack in the low post with a little more comfort.

Get Buckets – The Zags just have to make the shots they usually make. Hickman, Nembhard, Ajayi, and Ike going a combined 9-32 as they did against West Virginia is a stat so bad and out of character that it’s hardly worth dwelling on. There’s no need to adjust the offensive game plan. It was a bad game full of bad shots, bad calls, bad misses, bad chemistry, and bad effort. The quicker the Bulldogs can get the taste of that game out of their mouths the better.

Wake up the Bench – Depth is another critical factor. Gonzaga boasts one of the deepest benches in college basketball, but it won’t matter if only Braden Huff is contributing. Ben Gregg and Dusty Stromer combined for just two field goals against West Virginia, and Gregg picked up four fouls in 26 minutes and still hasn’t connected from deep this season. Both players need to step up and provide reliable scoring when Gonzaga’s backcourt is either neutralized defensively or simply out to lunch.

The Bottom Line

This game will test which team has the most grit and the shortest memory. Both Gonzaga and Indiana suddenly have a lot more to prove than they anticipated needing to. For the Bulldogs, it’s about finding their offensive rhythm and remembering how to lock in on their defensive assignments and rotate to their new ones within the flow of the game. For the Hoosiers, it’s about controlling the paint, offensive rebounding, and keeping Ryan Nembhard as uncomfortable as possible.

Ultimately, there is absolutely no reason for fans to go into hysterics. This Gonzaga team remains incredibly promising and just a few days ago were playing like the best team in the nation. They’ve shown they’re mortal, yes, but they haven’t shown the blueprint for beating them. More importantly, they may have made it clear that the only team truly capable of defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs is themselves.

This year’s team is simply built different, and the matchup with Indiana offers a shot at some much-needed redemption. Tomorrow, fans should expect their Bulldogs to come out swinging, bringing the fight directly to the Hoosiers.