Gonzaga was coming off a stinging 0-2 road trip last month that sounded warning signs, particularly with another two-game road trip coming up, followed by the neutral-site WCC Tournament and wherever the NCAA road took them, if the Zags were fortunate enough to make the big dance.

The Bulldogs gathered prior to practice for, as Sam Dower Jr. put it, "a man to man" talk. The Zags have won five games since that meeting and seem to have become a more hardened squad that deals better with adversity.

More on the meeting and the aftermath here.