Deja vu: Gonzaga settles for two 3-pointers in second straight loss to UConn

SEATTLE – In some ways, it resembled the last time Gonzaga and UConn met on a basketball court, when the Bulldogs settled for one of the worst 3-point-shooting performances in NCAA Tournament history during an 82-54 loss to the Huskies in the Elite Eight at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.

It was a new Gonzaga team on the floor Friday night at Climate Pledge Arena, and a new UConn one for that matter, but the Bulldogs’ 3-point woes were painfully familiar during a 76-63 loss to the fifth-ranked Huskies Friday night in Seattle.

After making 2 of 20 (10%) from the 3-point line last March in the Elite Eight, the Bulldogs didn’t do much better during Friday’s rematch, connecting on just 2 of 12 (16%) in their third loss this season. That makes Gonzaga just 4 of 32 (12%) in its past 80 minutes against UConn – a number that’s hard to swallow when considering the Huskies’ 3-point-shooting numbers (18 of 48) during that same stretch.

Unlike last year’s NCAA Tournament meeting, Gonzaga’s perimeter-shooting struggles didn’t just prop up on Friday. In fact, they can probably be traced back to the second half of the Bulldogs’ last game in the Emerald City.

Gonzaga connected on 5 of 9 from the 3-point line in the first half of their Dec. 9 game against Washington then missed nine consecutive shots in the second half of a 78-73 loss to the Huskies at Alaska Airlines Arena.

The Bulldogs haven’t had any luck finding their stroke since.

“I don’t know, missing shots. I mean, it’s hard to say for real,” Gonzaga point guard Ryan Nembhard said Friday, asked to make sense of the team’s 3-point-shooting struggles. “I think we’ve been getting some solid looks, we’ve just been missing them. It’s really hard to say.”

Gonzaga didn’t have any trouble rolling to a 78-40 win against an overmatched team from Mississippi Valley State on Monday, but the Bulldogs weren’t able to correct their perimeter-shooting struggles in that game, making just 5 of 24 shots from deep.

The Bulldogs were somewhat skittish at times on Friday, only attempting three 3-pointers in the first half against UConn. They were less conservative while facing a double-digit deficit in the second half and attempted nine more 3s after the break.

Anton Watson got a 3-pointer to rattle in midway through the first half and Ben Gregg connected from the left elbow on his only attempt in the second half, but five other Gonzaga players combined to go 0 for 9.

“I think we took the right ones,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “B-Huff (Braden Huff) had three of them teed up there perfectly and he’s been shooting the heck out of it. Yeah, had a couple popcorn out and the other ones just missed.”

After Friday’s performance, the Zags have made just 7 of 45 (16%) from the 3-point line over their past five halves and they’re just 12 of 54 in the past three games. During that stretch, Gonzaga’s guards have struggled in particular with their 3-point-shooting accuracy. Nolan Hickman, Dusty Stromer and Nembhard have combined to make 2 of 23 (8%), going 0 for 5 in the second half against UW and during Friday’s loss to UConn.

As a team, Gonzaga’s made 40% or better from 3-point range in two games this season, but the Bulldogs have also struggled to hit 30% on four occasions: UConn (16%), Purdue (18%), Mississippi Valley State (20%) and Washington (27%).

“We work on our shots,” Nembhard said. “We’ve maybe got to take some better ones, but I think for the most part we got some really solid looks.”