Opposites attract: Surging Gonzaga tries to extend struggling Cougars’ losing streak
PROVO, Utah – BYU, coming off a brutal 0-2 road swing last week against Santa Clara and Pacific, held player-only meetings and lengthy coaches-players conversations earlier this week trying to get back on track.
Things only got worse when San Francisco clipped BYU’s 12-game home winning streak with a decisive 73-59 victory Thursday.
Meanwhile, second-ranked Gonzaga steamrolled San Diego 92-62 leading into its annual visit to the Marriott Center. Gonzaga-BYU is always one of the most highly anticipated games on the West Coast Conference schedule, but the teams enter going in opposite directions.
The Zags (18-2, 7-0 WCC) are averaging 100.7 points per conference game with a winning margin of 29 points. The Cougars (17-7, 5-4) have dropped three in a row and tried tweaking the starting lineup against USF. Standout guard Alex Barcello produced 25 points, but the other four starters made 3 of 16 shots and combined for eight points.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few would like to see more of the same from his team, which is riding an 11-game winning streak.
“It’ll be a heck of an experience, especially for our young guys, including Chet (Holmgren),” Few said. “We’re going to have to match their energy and physicality and how hard they play in that building.
“Like I told the guys, we have to do the same thing we did (against San Diego). You have to take care of the ball, which you have to do on the road, and we were physical and defended well. If we can do that, hopefully we’ll be all right.”
BYU coach Mark Pope would like to see something different from his struggling crew. Before last week, Pope hadn’t experienced back-to-back losses, let alone three in a row, in his 2½ years at the helm.
“The game is testing us,” Pope said. “We’re getting a little beat up and we’re getting tested, and if I’m good at my job, which we’ll see if I am this year, then we’ll find the answers and we’re going to come out of this stronger.”
BYU anticipates another sold-out crowd of roughly 19,000 for the Zags, who are 7-3 at the Marriott Center under Few. Gonzaga has won four straight in the series after BYU knocked off then-No. 2 GU 91-78 in Provo in 2020.
“I’ve never played there before, but we have vets on the team I’ve asked about it and coach (Few) tells us about it all the time,” said Holmgren, who was dominant with 23 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks against San Diego. “It’s crazy in there, nothing is easy from tip all the way to buzzer. We’re going to play hard and put together a full effort and hopefully come out with a win.”
The Zags, No. 1 in the NET rankings, are positioned to earn a No. 1 seed for the fourth time in the past five NCAA tournaments. They almost certainly would have been a top seed in 2020, but the tourney was canceled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They’re also front-runners for the No. 1 seed in the West.
The Cougars, who have dropped to No. 37 in the NET, are still projected as an NCAA Tournament team, but their losing streak has pushed them onto the bubble. They’re projected as an 11 seed in ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology. They haven’t lost four straight since the 2013-14 season.
Pope is more worried about the team regaining the defensive and rebounding identity that had BYU on the cusp of cracking the AP Top 25 just two weeks ago.
“Right now, if you take the game, we’re like 60% looking like us and then we’re like 40%, ‘Man we just don’t recognize ourselves,’ in terms of decision making and when we’re on the floor, we have to find a way to simplify,” Pope said.