Texas Tech’s Matt Mooney hoping for better result in second shot at Gonzaga

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Texas Tech senior guard Matt Mooney remembers the full house, a few of GU’s players and the beatdown on the scoreboard.

This is round two for Mooney vs. Gonzaga. The first one didn’t go as planned for Mooney as a sophomore at South Dakota.

“They killed us,” said Mooney, a grad transfer who averages 10.9 points and 3.3 assists for the third-seeded Red Raiders. “They had (Josh) Perkins, (Rui) Hachimura, I don’t know if they had anybody else. We hung with them early, but I remember they killed us. It was not fun.”

Gonzaga rolled to a 102-65 win on Dec. 21, 2016. Mooney had 13 points and six rebounds.

“I remember not playing as well as I wanted to,” Mooney said. “It was probably one of the most embarrassing losses of my career. I think that was the only time we really got blown out.”

The 2017 Zags reached the NCAA championship game, falling to North Carolina. South Dakota won the Summit League regular-season title and played in the NIT.