TV Take: In win over Pepperdine, Gonzaga got back to earning positive milestones with Mark Few’s 700th victory
There have already been multiple milestones in this 2023-24 Gonzaga men’s basketball season. Some positive, a few-too-many negative, at least in the eyes of the Zags’ followers.
There was a second chance to add another to the positive ledger Thursday night against a team that seemed the perfect foil for Mark Few’s 25th GU team. After all, the Bulldogs came into Firestone Fieldhouse carrying a 46-game winning streak against the host Pepperdine Waves. A 47th would also be Few’s 700th win, a total achieved faster by only one other NCAA Division I coach.
Though the unranked Zags started slowly, they finished quickly, pulling away in the second half en route to an 86-61 victory that once more put Few in rarefied company.
It was appropriate Gonzaga fans were able to watch on KHQ with Greg Heister and Richard Fox calling the action.
“This is a celebratory night,” Heister said. “Tonight, 700 victories, it’s in the books and it can never be taken away.”
What they saw …
• How did a Pepperdine team that came in 9-10 overall and 220th in the NCAA NET rankings keep it close, at least for 20 minutes?
A big part of it was self-inflicted. As Fox described it, at times during this game (and the season), the wheels came off the Gonzaga offense.
In the first half, he mentioned the phrase after a quick Dusty Stromer 3-point air ball, a Nolan Hickman forced 5-footer against three defenders and Pepperdine took advantage, earning a tie at 40 during halftime.
The offense wasn’t helped either by missed point-blank shots, at least four in the first half, three of which were hardly contested.
Another issue came on the other end. Pepperdine, as Fox emphasized, is the type of team that can score in bunches and, most important, wants to use its offensive ability to outscore the opponent.
In the first half, the Zags helped, too much at times. Overhelping on defense led to open looks, with Jevon Porter the most common recipient. The 6-foot-11 sophomore took advantage, hitting 5 of 9 shots from the field before halftime. He had 13 at the half, 16 overall, to lead the Waves (2-3 in WCC play).
All that disappeared at halftime.
The Gonzaga defense was nails out of the locker room, limiting the Waves to one field goal (in 13 attempts) in the first 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, the wheels were firmly on the Zags’ offensive bus. They hit 11 of their first 16 and had a 22-point lead with less than 9 minutes left. A big reason? As Heister pointed out, the Bulldogs (12-5, 3-1) shared the ball better. Before halftime, Gonzaga had seven assists on 17 made baskets. In the second half? There were 12 on 19.
“Whatever was said at halftime, in the locker room, hit home,” Heister said.
Graham Ike was the recipient many times, finishing with 24 points on 11-of-17 shooting. Hickman added 19 and Anton Watson 16, on just 10 shots.
What we saw …
• When Few began his march to 700, and even before, the Waves were the class of the West Coast Conference. And their facility was the crown jewel for the conference, even with though it was one of the few facilities in the nation that featured a bouncy, hard-rubber floor. But it was the team on the floor, not the surface itself, that made Pepperdine such a hard place to win.
But Few’s ascendance corresponded with the Waves’ decline. From NCAA tourney regulars to WCC also-rans, the past 25 years haven’t been the school’s best. And it shows in the matchups between the schools, with the Zags’ winning streak the third longest between two schools.
Not that Few minds. He’s never been a huge fan of the Waves’ home court, something he shared with us years ago. The biggest issue is teams have to navigate the concourse by the concession stands to access their locker room.
At least in this one, that wasn’t as tough as it usually is.
For the first time in our memory, there were multiple open seats visible on the broadcast. Enough of them, in fact, Heister and Fox commented on it.
“It’s really odd,” Heister said. “We’ve called quite a few games in this arena in 20-plus years. I don’t remember one where it wasn’t completely sold out. There’s a lot of empty seats in here tonight.”
Other than calling Firestone an arena – with a 3,104 capacity, it’s better described as a gym – Heister had it right.
Fox was just as astonished and you could hear it in his voice as he added, “It’s not even close to a full house.”
• The coach who got to 700 wins faster than Few? “The great Adolph Rupp,” as Heister described the long-ago Kentucky coach.
Rupp got his 700th in his 836th game. Thursday was Few’s 840th.
• If you are an NFL fan, you may have recognized one of the officials. Bill Vinovich, who spends his fall and early winter as a referee in the league, is back on the basketball court.