‘We’re not panicking.’ Recent losses haven’t impacted Gonzaga’s resume – or confidence – as nonleague slate winds down

When drawing parallels between Gonzaga’s current team and the 2023-24 group that extended the program’s streak of consecutive Sweet 16 appearances, the easiest place to start is the win-loss column.

On Dec. 19, 2023, the Zags were 8-3, with one loss at a multiteam event – Purdue at the Maui Invitational – and two more in December, against Washington at Alaska Airlines Arena and one week later against Connecticut at Climate Pledge Arena.

Exactly one year later, the Zags have an identical record through 11 games, with three losses coming at similar stages of the nonconference calendar. Once again, Gonzaga dropped the opening game of an MTE, falling to West Virginia at the Battle 4 Atlantis, before losing twice, to Kentucky and UConn, in December games that were separated by just seven days.

While the two Gonzaga teams are similar in some ways, including those mentioned above, they’re polar opposites in many others.

“I feel like we were in a worse position last year,” senior forward Graham Ike said on Wednesday after the Zags overcame a slow start to handle Nicholls State 102-72 at McCarthey Athletic Center.

That may be a shared feeling among Gonzaga players, coaches and fans after watching the Bulldogs come up short in two overtime games before losing to UConn last Saturday in a back-and-forth game at Madison Square Garden.

The Zags are 8-3, down to No. 13 in the Associated Press rankings and no longer a projected No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But when considering how things have played out, they may also be three possessions – one in each loss – from entering the final stretch of nonconference games unbeaten, with a 5-0 mark in Quad 1 games and touting a No. 1 national ranking.

During an 86-78 loss to West Virginia, Gonzaga led by two points with 8 seconds remaining when an untimely turnover allowed the Mountaineers to make two free throws and send the game to overtime.

Gonzaga’s next loss, 90-89 to Kentucky, was perhaps the most avoidable. The Bulldogs led 50-34 at halftime before missing nine consecutive 3-pointers in the second half.

Even with an ice-cold shooting stretch, GU could have sealed the victory with a few more free throws, but both Ike and Dusty Stromer missed the front end of 1-and-1 sequences inside the final 8 minutes.

UConn controlled the lead for all but 2 minutes, 22 seconds of Saturday’s game in New York City, but the Zags were within one possession late in the second half before missing four straight field-goal attempts in a 77-71 loss.

“Like you said, it’s a couple possessions away,” Ike said. “We understand that, we’re not panicking. At the end of the day, it’s December.”

Understandably, the Zags feel better about this year’s 8-3 mark compared to last year’s record at the same juncture.

Gonzaga took things down to the wire in a Dec. 9, 2023, loss to Washington, but the Zags weren’t within striking distance of Purdue and UConn – at least not late in the second half – in double-digit losses to teams that would link up in the national championship game.

Gonzaga’s first three losses last year came by a combined 28 points. The margin this year is 15 points. The Zags have led by double digits – 10 points against WVU, 18 against Kentucky – in two of their three losses and they’ve held second-half leads in all three.

“We’re good, man,” Ike said. “We’re good, we’re going to keep this thing rolling.

“We’re going to stay focused, we’re going to continue to win the day and that’s going to allow us to win games.”

Recent losses shouldn’t hurt GU from an optics or resume standpoint.

The 2024-25 Zags are better equipped, with more depth, balance and veteran leadership, to avoid the same issues that surfaced for last year’s group after Christmas, when Mark Few’s team dropped its fourth and fifth games in short order, temporarily placing Gonzaga on the wrong side of the NCAA bubble.

The longtime coach often isn’t in the locker room with his team, but Few hasn’t sensed any signs of a team that’s lost its confidence or mojo after three tight losses.

“You’d probably have to ask them that,” he said. “I think sometimes it does, it causes just a whole different aura around practice and the locker room. I think we’ve got a lot of veterans here, so they’re used to it and they’ve experienced that one way or the other. I’d say so far this team handles it pretty well.”