The trip to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis is off to a rough beginning.
A blown five point lead by Gonzaga with 25 seconds left to end regulation is unacceptable. West Virginia’s Tucker DeVries hit the clutch three-pointer to close the lead for the Zags down to two points, it happens. It’s the Nolan Hickman turnover that was forced by DeVries and turned into two free throws on the opposite end that cannot be lived with. The pocket picketing by DeVries couldn’t have been a more crucial time for Hickman to take care of the ball.
What made it even worse was when the Gonzaga coaching staff took Ryan Nembhard out of game (put Graham Ike in for rebounding purposes but was not being able to put him back in for final play. That final offensive possession without Nembhard was a mess and the game should have been won in regulation by the Zags.
Mark Few did take blame for not calling a timeout before Hickman’s late turnover which is appreciated.
“I shoulda called a timeout as that thing was progressing, it didn’t look great on the press break. I probably should have burned one, we had it in our two guards’ hands and I trusted them.” – Gonzaga’s Mark Few
To end the first half, the Mountaineers missed 9 of its last 11 shots. Coach Darian DeVries must’ve lit his group up in the locker room because they were a completely different beast in the second half and overtime. West Virginia outscored Gonzaga by a befuddling 55-39.
Few had no answer to stopping Javon Small who finished with a staggering 31 points on 9-18 FG/4-10 3PT/9-11 FT to go along with seven rebounds. The Zags needed to zero in on him defensively but Small continued to find ways to fill up the bucket.
Ike and Michael Ajayi were no-shows as they played just a combined 32 minutes. West Virginia continued to throw double teams at the pair which forced each out of their comfort zones. Few noticed it and had to find other ways for his frontcourt to contribute. When Ben Gregg and Braden Huff were on the floor together, the duo continued to find impactful winning ways that won’t always show up in the box score.
Ben Gregg and Braden Huff combined for 28 points on 10-18 FG/1-4 3PT/7-8 FT plus 8 rebounds off the bench.
Graham Ike and Michael Ajayi combined for 12 points on 3-11 FG/1-2 3PT/5-6 FT plus 7 rebounds in the start.
— The Slipper Still Fits (@slipperstillfit) November 27, 2024
Props to West Virginia’s coach DeVries for implementing a defensive game plan built on pressuring the ball and strong rim protection. A salute goes out the big three of The Big 3 of Small, DeVries and Amani Hansberry who combined for 66 points and 21 rebounds.
With that being said, the Zags should’ve won that opening round game of the Battle 4 Atlantis. Gonzaga gave up too many second-chance opportunities on 12 offensive rebounds for the Mountaineers and turned the ball over 13 times. The team as a whole had poor shot selection in the entirety of overtime and never got into any flow offensively as the execution came up short time after time again.
Khalif Battle forced a few way too early in the shot clock three-pointers against West Virginia but that last one he threw up was the worst of the bunch. He’s easily the biggest offensive threat on the roster but can play a bit out of control at times and doesn’t try to get the best look possible. Battle needs a bit more patience in the half-court set and to stop searching for fouls so much.
Yes, a couple of missed calls down the late stretch from the refs deservedly should have fans losing their minds. A missed travel by DeVries. The jumping sideways by DeVries on a corner three-point attempt to initiate the contact and draw the foul on Hickman. Those were bad but not the reason that the Zags fell to the Mountaineers. This offense had more than enough opportunities to pull out a victory. The loss could’ve been avoided but thankfully, it came in November.
No one expected that the reunion matchup with Indiana’s Oumar Ballo would come on the wrong side of the bracket. The Zags and the Hoosiers tip-off on Thanksgiving Day at 11:30 AM PT on ESPN2. Time to move on. Gonzaga is still a national title contender. Enjoy the Bahamas a bit and rest up.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on Twitter @a_cravalho