Gonzaga Rolls Into NCAA Tournament With Another West Coast Crown

Rather than running at a breakneck pace, Gonzaga is — for them — almost deliberate.

“Every year they play with this terrifying, torrid pace,” Brigham Young Coach Mark Pope said. “It’s just not their character so far this year. They just have younger guards who aren’t quite what they had. And Timme has always lent a little bit of gravity to the game. He’s like a secondary transition guy. He’s not a deer out there.”

Instead of running past opponents, the Zags have simply carved up defenses in the half court this season with their myriad cuts and screens, using Timme as the fulcrum from either the high or low post. In Monday’s West Coast semifinals, San Francisco chose to leave Anton Watson, the senior forward who is a valuable defender, unguarded. Watson took advantage, scoring a career-high 20 points.

And after taking more than three minutes to score their first point on Tuesday night, the Zags were just as sublime as ever. The victory was their eighth in a row. Wherever they are seeded on Sunday, Timme said, they will accept the challenge and go looking for more.

“It was nice,” he said, “to be an underdog for once.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/08/sports/ncaabasketball/gonzaga-ncaa-tournament.html