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Dec. 19—When drawing parallels between Gonzaga’s current team and the 2023-24 group that extended the program’s streak of consecutive Sweet 16 appearances, the easiest place to start is the win-loss column.
On Dec. 19, 2023, the Zags were 8-3, with one loss at a multiteam event — Purdue at the Maui Invitational — and two more in December, against Washington at Alaska Airlines Arena and one week later against Connecticut at Climate Pledge Arena.
Exactly one year later, the Zags have an identical record through 11 games, with three losses coming at similar stages of the nonconference calendar. Once again, Gonzaga dropped the opening game of an MTE, falling to West Virginia at the Battle 4 Atlantis, before losing twice, to Kentucky and UConn, in December games that were separated by just seven days.
While the two Gonzaga teams are similar in some ways, including those mentioned above, they’re polar opposites in many others.
“I feel like we were in a worse position last year,” senior forward Graham Ike said on Wednesday after the Zags overcame a slow start to handle Nicholls State 102-72 at McCarthey Athletic Center.
That may be a shared feeling among Gonzaga players, coaches and fans after watching the Bulldogs come up short in two overtime games before losing to UConn last Saturday in a back-and-forth game at Madison Square Garden.
The Zags are 8-3, down to No. 13 in the Associated Press rankings and no longer a projected No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But when considering how things have played out, they may also be three possessions — one in each loss — from entering the final stretch of nonconference games unbeaten, with a 5-0 mark in Quad 1 games and touting a No. 1 national ranking.
During an 86-78 loss to West Virginia, Gonzaga led by two points with 8 seconds remaining when an untimely turnover allowed the Mountaineers to make two free throws and send the game to overtime.
Gonzaga’s next loss, 90-89 to Kentucky, was perhaps the most avoidable. The Bulldogs led…
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Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
Publish date : 2024-12-20 03:04:00
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