Drew Timme's 29 points pushes No. 18 Gonzaga past Kent State: 3 takeaways
SPOKANE - It wasn’t pretty, but No. 18 Gonzaga (6-3) still prevailed in a 73-66 win over Kent State (6-3) at the McCarthey Athletic Center on Monday night.
Here are three observations from Gonzaga’s performance:
KENT STATE DIDN'T GO DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT
If the Gonzaga men’s basketball team expected Monday’s game against Kent State to be a break from their grueling nonconference schedule, they were in for a surprise.
The contest featured 12 lead changes as the Golden Flashes remained competitive from start to finish.
“That team was a hell of a team,” said Gonzaga forward Drew Timme. “They had us up against the wall.”
Kent State was led in scoring by Miryne Thomas’ 16 points on 4-for-8 shooting from 3-point range.
A 3-pointer from Thomas put the Golden Flashes up 66-62 with just under four minutes to play. However, Gonzaga regained the lead for a final time after a 3-pointer from guard Julian Strawther, followed by a post-spin layup from Timme.
Kent State wouldn’t score for the remainder of the game as the Zags pulled out their 69th consecutive home victory.
“It’s huge, this game was a must-win,” Timme said. “This is a place that we don’t like to lose in.”
DREW TIMME, JULIAN STRAWTHER BOUNCE BACK FROM PERFORMANCE AGAINST BAYLOR
Photo by Erik Smith/Myk Crawford
In a 64-63 loss to Baylor last Friday, Timme finished with just nine points. It marked the senior’s lowing-scoring game since his six-point performance in a double-digit loss to Saint Mary’s last season.
However, Timme didn’t have trouble finding a rhythm against the Golden Flashes, as he ended the contest with 29 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. He also tallied four assists and two blocks.
“(Timme) was heroic. He wasn’t really looking for the ball much early and wasn’t demanding it … he was splitting the defense and scoring in a variety of ways like he does,” Few said. “To end up with 17 boards is a monster night and we needed every one of them.”
Strawther was Gonzaga’s second-leading scorer with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting, a much more efficient game than when had 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting against Baylor.
“Some days I go off, some days “[Strawther] goes off, some days we both go off, some days neither of us go off,” Timme said. “We play within the system and that’s the beauty of this offense. Anybody can step up on any given night.”
ONCE A ZAG, ALWAYS A ZAG
With his No. 13 jersey being retired in a pregame ceremony, Kelly Olynyk was in attendance for Monday’s game.
Olynyk played for Gonzaga from 2009-13 and led the program to its first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament while being named a First Team AP All-American as a senior.
“Kelly is about everything that we’re about,” Few said. “He came here and he was struggling, similar to how some of our guys are. He decided to redshirt after his second year… and he invested in himself and the growth was incredible.”
For current players like Timme, it was neat to have a player like Olynyk return to the school.
“It’s awesome to have guys like that come back and support us, Timme said. “He’s a big reason why I wanted to come here, so it was cool… to play in front of him.”
PHOTO GALLERY: GONZAGA VS. KENT STATE
(All photos by Erik Smith and Myk Crawford)
