Baylor shuts down Drew Timme, defeats Gonzaga 64-63: 3 takeaways
Friday’s showdown between No. 14 Gonzaga and sixth-ranked Baylor was much closer than the 2021 NCAA championship, but it still had the same result as the Bears (6-2) defeated the Zags (5-3) 64-63 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Here are three observations from Gonzaga’s performance:
BAYLOR SHUTS DOWN DREW TIMME, ZAGS' OFFENSE
Heading into Friday’s contest, Gonzaga forward Drew Timme was averaging 20 points per game on 62.1% shooting from the field.
However, Timme looked nothing like himself against the Bears, who held the All-American to nine points in 31 minutes.
“That’s what they do,” Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said of Baylor’s defense on Timme. “They don’t want him getting touches and they double him every time he gets the catch.
When it seemed like it couldn’t get any worse for Timme, he had to leave the game with 16 seconds left after committing his fifth foul. The whistle sent forward Jalen Bridges to the free-throw line, which resulted in the go-ahead free throws as Gonzaga wasn’t able to regain the lead.
Timme’s lack of scoring wasn’t the only factor in the Zags’ loss, however.
Gonzaga shot 36.1% from the field and 27.3% from 3-point range, while also finishing with 18 turnovers.
“The game just got sped up a little bit and that was one reason,” said Gonzaga guard Julian Strawther of his team’s turnovers. “I had some turnovers too but the whole flow of the game was sped up and sometimes we turned it over when we should have just slowed it down and ran our offense.”
MALACHI SMITH BOUNCES BACK FROM PK85 PERFORMANCE
After scoring just three points across Gonzaga’s previous two games, Malachi Smith’s role as a spark plug off the bench was in question.
But on a challenging night for the Zags’ offense, Smith stepped up and finished with a team-high 16 points.
Smith provided a much-needed scoring boost since the rest of Gonzaga’s guards went 12-for-31 from the field.
He was also a resilient defender, holding his ground against a loaded Baylor backcourt.
The Bears’ top two players in points per game, Adam Flagler and LJ Cryer, made just seven of their 31 field goal attempts.
“He was probably our best perimeter defender on those guards,” Few said of Smith. “[Baylor] does a good job of picking somebody out and isolating them and I think Anton [Watson] and Malachi were the ones that were really guarding.”
A STAR IS BORN
With Baylor being a guard-led team, the Zags were expected to have their hands full trying to contain the Bears’ backcourt duo Cryer and Flagler.
But it was a different starting guard who led the way as Keyonte George ended the game with 18 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
George’s 14 first-half points helped give the Bears a 38-33 lead at the intermission.
“I trust my work… and my teammates believe in me each and every day so that gave me a lot of confidence,” George said.
A freshman, George was projected to go No. 10 in ESPN’s 2023 NBA Mock Draft, released on Thursday.
PHOTO GALLERY: GONZAGA VS. BAYLOR
(All photos by Steven Branscombe, USA TODAY Sports)
