‘We’ve got to close out these games.’ Gonzaga comes up short to UCLA in another narrow setback
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – After being on the opposite end each of the last four years, UCLA turned the tables and dished out a helping of heartache to Gonzaga.
For the Zags, it looked all too familiar to their previous three setbacks, coming up short in a winnable game down the stretch.
No. 14 Gonzaga shook off a rugged first half offensively that included Khalif Battle’s ejection due to a flagrant two foul. For a few minutes in the later stages Saturday it looked like the Zags might sneak out of the Intuit Dome with a hard-earned win.
Instead, they absorbed another disheartening loss, 65-62, to No. 22 UCLA.
“Obviously we feel like we’ve been in a bunch of close games that we felt like we should have won all of them,” GU senior point guard Ryan Nembhard said. “We’ve got to close out these games and learn to win these close games.”
A couple chairs away at the post-game press conference, senior center Graham Ike nodded his head in agreement.
Nembhard, with 16 points and eight assists in 40 minutes against one of the best defenses in the nation, and Ike, who poured in 24 points, were the primary reasons Gonzaga erased an 11-point deficit and led for most of the final 12-plus minutes.
Gonzaga (9-4) caught a break when Sebastian Mack missed two free throws with 1:18 left and the score tied. Nembhard nailed a 10-footer to put GU on top 60-58.
Mack responded with a three-point play with 33.4 seconds left to give UCLA the lead 61-60. Gonzaga’s Dusty Stromer, who got the starting nod in place of Nolan Hickman, misfired on a corner 3-pointer and Skyy Clark’s two free throws bumped the Bruins’ lead to 63-60.
Nembhard countered with a layup and he was fouled. UCLA coach Mick Cronin called a timeout to make Nembhard’s wait even longer. His free throw came up well short and Clark added a pair of free throws to extend UCLA’s lead to 65-62 with 5.5 seconds left.
Nembhard’s 3-pointer from near the half-court line with a couple of seconds still on the clock that was off target.
“I just knew they were going to foul (to prevent a 3-point attempt),” Nembhard explained. “I threw it to Ben (Gregg) and they were about to foul him. I figured that was the best shot I could get off. I probably had a couple more dribbles, but I knew they were going to come foul.”
Gonzaga coach Mark Few wasn’t unhappy with Gonzaga’s execution in crunch time. Ike missed a 7-footer with 1:33 left after hitting 11 of his first 15 attempts and Stromer was open on a 3-ball.
“We’re playing a great schedule and great teams,” he said. “And you’re in position to win and in college basketball, you hope you can make a play, make a shot and get a stop at the end.
“It was kind of a tough call on Emmanuel (Innocenti on Mack’s three-point play). The guys did a great job executing. We had great looks, Dusty had a wide open 3 in the corner. You just have to kind of make those plays, make those shots.”
Few later added that the foul on Innocenti was a “tough call. He’s sliding down, holding his ground, the offense clearly initiates contact in his face, but it’s hard to say he was in perfect guarding position either.Those are bang-bang plays.
Gonzaga knocked off the Bruins by three points in the 2021 and 2023 NCAA Tournaments and by four at the Maui Invitational last season. There was also a 20-point rout in Las Vegas when Gonzaga was No. 1 and UCLA was No. 2.
About the only things that went right for Gonzaga in a first half was its start – a modest 7-2 lead – and a 9-0 closing spurt to trim UCLA’s lead to 27-25. In between, Gonzaga committed a whopping 11 turnovers, missed shots inside and outside, open and contested, and lost Battle with 4:13 left.
Battle had scored five of GU’s 16 points at that point and the Bruins hiked their lead to 27-16 with 4 minutes left on Eric Dailey Jr.’s putback seconds after Battle headed to the locker room.
Gonzaga finally warmed up in the final 3-plus minutes of the half. Hickman connected on a 3-pointer and Ike added a layup – the Zags’ first time scoring on back-t0-back, one-shot possessions. Nembhard hit his first field goal and Ike’s 5-footer dropped in just as the buzzer sounded.
Ike scored 13 of GU’s 25 first-half points, its lowest scoring half of the season (previously 29 in the second half vs. Kentucky). Gonzaga’s lowest scoring first half before Saturday was 38 twice (Bucknell and Arizona State).
UCLA nearly matched GU missed shot for missed shot, turnover for turnover and scoring drought for scoring drought, other than one fairly smooth offensive stretch generated a 17-2 burst and an 11-point lead.