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**ZagsGoZags** · 01-13-2022, 11:42 AM

from Daily Herald:
https://www.heraldextra.com/sports/2...-no-2-gonzaga/

"“It’s a unique gift for us,” Pope said. “Nobody else in country gets to do this. In the last couple of years we’ve played them more than anyone else. You always want to play the best and they are the very best.”

**ZagNative** · 01-13-2022, 12:02 PM

Thanks, ZagsGoZags! Good stuff!

**JPtheBeasta** · 01-13-2022, 12:51 PM

Say what you will about BYU, but they always manage to have an excellent shooter/scorer on their team

**Mantua** · 01-13-2022, 01:11 PM

Originally posted by JPtheBeasta View Post

Say what you will about BYU, but they always manage to have an excellent shooter/scorer on their team

And a couple of bruisers.

**RenoZag** · 01-14-2022, 07:35 AM

Salt Lake Tribune Game Story

https://www.sltrib.com/sports/byu-co...ns-basketball/

“We just didn’t have answers, especially on the defensive end,” coach Mark Pope said on BYU Radio. “We tried a lot of different things. Our guys worked really hard. But we were not prepared to slow them down tonight.”

One of the players BYU wasn’t prepared for was Julian Strawther, a sophomore who didn’t start a game last year and averaged only 3.4 points in 7.6 points. But he scored 20 points against the Cougars on 7-of-10 shooting and 3 of 5 from the 3-point line.

The Bulldogs reached the century mark with 6:48 remaining in the game, a feat of which Pope said he has never been a part in his career. But he vowed that BYU is the type of team that bounces back from tough losses and that his team will continue to improve.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Pope said. “It’s just super, super humbling. If we want to become the team that at we want to become, it gives us a very clear picture of a dozen or so things that we need to address where we have to get way better. So we’ll work hard to do that.”

**RenoZag** · 01-14-2022, 07:38 AM

Deseret News Game Story

https://www.deseret.com/2022/1/14/22...er-byu-cougars

What went wrong for the Cougars? And what went right for Gonzaga?

“A lot of things. We made a conscious decision, in game-planning, that we were going to do everything we could to try and protect 2-point land, especially around the rim,” Pope said. “And they shot 10 of 15 from the 3-point line in the first half. That’s what a great team does.”

The Zags led by as many as 19 in the first half and extended that advantage to as many as 34 in the second half, when they shot 71.4%.

Four Gonzaga players scored in double figures — Drew Timme (30), Andrew Nembhard (22), Julian Strawther (20), and Chet Holmgren (12). Timme was 13 of 14 from the floor, Strawther was 7 of 10, Nembhard was 8 of 13 and Holmgren was 5 of 7.

Mark Few was happy:

Consider this — the Cougars scored 84 points, hit 13 three-pointers, but still lost by 26.

Even Gonzaga coach Mark Few couldn’t believe what he saw from his team.

“We were awesome on offense, we really, really were. Some of the lines are just incredible. To shoot 69% for the game is incredible, obviously 52% from 3 was huge,” Few said. “Just an awesome performance on offense and I really thought one of the big keys was our defense settled in in the second half and was much better, because they torched us pretty good in the first half … Nineteen assists and no turnovers with Andrew and Rasir (Bolton) is amazing. Literally everybody that got in the game did what we asked them to do and wanted them to do.”

**RenoZag** · 01-14-2022, 07:45 AM

S-R Vince Grippi's "TV Take": Bilas on Chet

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/20...-look-easy-wi/

Bilas spent the entire first half talking like a Zags fan about the newest Topps all-star.

“How would you like to be a big man and have to guard that,” Bilas asked after Holmgren nailed a transition 3-pointer – one of 10 GU had before halftime.

“There is nothing he cannot do,” Bilas said a bit later. “He’s just strength away from being a complete player.”

“A spin move, at 7-(foot)-1, going up with his left hand, how do you stop that?” asked Bilas after Holmgren did just that.

“Chet Holmgren has been protecting the rim – he has five blocks in this game and, I don’t know, how many changed shots he’s accounted for,” said Bilas while explain the GU defense. “I think that would be an interesting stat if you could chart how many shots he changes with his presence by the rim.”

Why is that important? Let Bilas explain:

“It gives every Gonzaga defender the feeling they can really get out and guard their guy on the perimeter without fear because he’s back there,” he said.

**RenoZag** · 01-14-2022, 07:51 AM

S-R: Theo Lawson and Jim Meehan

Lawson: https://www.spokesman.com/stories/20...in-second-hal/

Gonzaga could point to any number of tactical changes that were made to slow down BYU’s offense in the second half, but a strong halftime message from Mark Few seemed to be effective as anything else as the Bulldogs waited for their normally sound defense to match a dynamic, high-scoring offense.

“Coach coming in and lighting a stick up under us,” said junior forward Drew Timme when asked how the Zags improved on the defensive end of the floor to create separation from the Cougars in a 110-84 blowout at McCarthey Athletic Center. “We also hold ourselves to a certain standard and they were hot in the first half, they were hitting a bunch of 3s.”

Meehan: https://www.spokesman.com/stories/20...ly-crushes-by/

The final numbers were mind-boggling: a season-high 28 assists, 43 field goals, 11 3s, 54 paint points and a shooting percentage of 69.4, the highest in a Division I game this season. The Zags flirted with the school record – 71.8% vs. Saint Mary’s in 1996. Gonzaga was at 73.2% with less than 5 minutes remaining.

“Our pace after makes and misses was good, ball movement, understanding where the mismatches were,” Nembhard said. “Everybody was just clicking together. One of those nights.”

Timme worked over BYU’s post defenders with 30 points on 13-of-14 shooting. Julian Strawther matched his career high with 20 points and Nembhard had a double-double – both with 12 minutes remaining.

“I take pride in being efficient,” Timme said. “It’s something I try to do every time, not force shots. I always like to let shots come to me. I was on tonight.”

**RenoZag** · 01-14-2022, 07:57 AM

AP Wire Story

Via ESPN: https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId=401371311

SPOKANE, Wash. -- — Coach Mark Few of No. 2 Gonzaga is always on his players to pick up the pace in games, and the Zags are doing their best to comply.

Drew Timme scored 30 points on 13-of-14 shooting as Gonzaga beat rival BYU 110-84 on Thursday night to extend the nation's longest home winning streak to 61 games.

Andrew Nembhard had 22 points and 12 assists, and Julian Strawther added 20 points for Gonzaga (13-2, 2-0 West Coast), which shot 69% in the game and made 11 3-pointers. Chet Holmgren added 12 points, seven rebounds and five blocks.

"Coach is always on us to push the ball, make it a high-possession game," Timme said. "It's just what we've always done here.

"We put up 100-some points and we are not satisfied with that," Timme added. "We can do better."

**RenoZag** · 01-14-2022, 08:14 AM

Stats by STATS

Via Twitter: https://twitter.com/StatsBySTATS/sta...88399946665984

Tonight
@ZagMBB
had a player:

-with 30 pts on 90.0% shooting (Timme)
-with 20 pts & 10 ast (Nembhard)
-with 20 pts in under 25 min (Strawther)
-with 5 blk (Holmgren)

They're the only Division I team in the last 25 years to accomplish all of those individual feats in one game.
11:18 PM · Jan 13, 2022·Twitter Web App

@ZagMBB has some cool video / photos from last night's game: https://twitter.com/ZagMBB

NCAA Official Box Score: https://gozags.com/documents/2022/1/13/GONMBB15_Box.pdf

**JPtheBeasta** · 01-14-2022, 08:29 AM

Drew Timme called Andrew Nembhard “Andy” in post.

Andrew: “You gotta stop calling me that [Face with tears of joy/crying laughing emoji]”

Drew: “He’s got a friend in me!!”

https://twitter.com/BrennaGreene_/st...302657024?s=20

**ZagsGoZags** · 01-14-2022, 09:59 AM

thanks Reno,
fun reading

**RenoZag** · 01-14-2022, 10:59 AM

Andrew & Drew Press Conference Video: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CYs1ggz...um=share_sheet

The "Andy" exchange happens at about the 7:00 min mark.

**daskim** · 01-14-2022, 11:18 AM

Originally posted by RenoZag View Post

Andrew & Drew Press Conference Video: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CYs1ggz...um=share_sheet

The "Andy" exchange happens at about the 7:00 min mark.

Great how both of them lit up when talking about Joe Few's free throws towards the end of the game.

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