Gonzaga routs Pacific for fourth-straight win: 'We're just flowing pretty well right now'
SPOKANE - The Gonzaga Bulldogs picked the right time of year to kick things into high gear.
"We're flowing offensively," said Ryan Nembhard after Saturday's 102-76 victory over the Pacific Tigers. "I'm just making simple reads out there and just seeing things a bit slower. We're just flowing pretty well right now at the right point in the year."
Nembhard has been a major factor in the Bulldogs' (20-6, 10-2 WCC) recent explosion on the offensive end of the floor. The junior point guard controlled the flow in the upset victory at Kentucky, despite a rough shooting game for him personally, followed by a 16-point, 11-assist performance in a 91-74 win at Loyola Marymount on Thursday. He only had four turnovers in that stretch too.
Nembhard wasn't about to let his foot off the gas pedal against Pacific, not with his older brother Andrew in attendance as the Indiana Pacers take a break during NBA All-Star Weekend. As the former Gonzaga floor general watched on, his younger brother Ryan dropped 18 points, 11 assists and five rebounds with just one turnover in 34 minutes to lead the Bulldogs to their fourth-straight win.
Gonzaga shot a season-high 66.1% from the field and led by double-digits for much of the night, eventually going up by 28 late in the second half. Pacific (6-22, 0-13 WCC) hung around for a while on the backs of its versatile wings Nick Blake and Donovan Williams, who combined for 36 points and managed to spread out Gonzaga's defense numerous times down the floor.
A 12-0 scoring run doubled the Bulldogs' 12-point lead, making it 85-61 with 7:28 left after Nolan Hickman drilled his fourth and final 3-pointer of the game en route to a 16-point performance. Graham Ike led all scorers with 21 points, while Anton Watson had 17.
Here are three takeaways from the win.
PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME
Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford
The offensive explosion has come during a time when Gonzaga's at-large hopes of making the NCAA Tournament hang in the balance with each game from now until the end of the West Coast Conference Tournament. In other words, the Bulldogs are in fact peaking at the right time.
Per Bart Torvik, Gonzaga's adjusted offensive efficiency rate in its last four games is 125.3 against Portland, 133.7 at Kentucky, 140.8 at LMU (season-high) and 127.9 against Pacific. Before that stretch, it had posted an efficiency of 125.0 or better twice in its previous 22 games. Since the 64-62 letdown against Saint Mary's, the Bulldogs have averaged 94.5 points and have shot 65.6% on shots inside the 3-point arc.
A concentrated effort to attack the paint and work inside-out, as well as stellar play from the backcourt, has Gonzaga on track to finish strong the rest of the way in WCC play.
"We had a good week on offense, even [going] back to Kentucky," said Mark Few. "Our offense has been really clicking really well, guys have been sharing it and just making the right basketball play and then part of it is just stepping up and making shots. Guys have done a nice job. Nolan especially has really been hunting shots and obviously Graham has been delivering in there."
During Gonzaga's win streak, Hickman has averaged 16.8 points and shot 50% or better from the field in three of the four victories. Ike has dominated down on the low block with three-straight 20-point games and a 9-for-9 night from the floor against Pacific.
DEFENSE A WORK IN PROGRESS
Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford
While the offense has hummed, the defense has been rattled at times. According to Torvik, the Bulldogs had their two worst nights from an efficiency standpoint against LMU (120.6 defensive efficiency rating, season-worst) and Pacific (118.4, second-worst). Not quite the performance some would expect against two of the three worst offensive teams in the WCC from an efficiency standpoint.
"I think just man-to-man defense, one on one [needs to improve.] I feel like dudes are just getting to the cup too easily," Watson said. "Even myself, I got to get back to my ways and just be kind of aggressive and nasty. Just taking it as disrespectful if they score on you like a layup or something, we got to make every shot tough."
The body of work suggests the Bulldogs can get back to their "nasty" ways on the defensive end. They're No. 3 in scoring defense in the WCC (68.8 points per game allowed) and second in opponent field goal percentage (40.1%) while forcing 11.9 turnovers per game. Only two opponents have crossed the 80-point threshold this season, which is quite a feat when looking back at how Gonzaga's performed on the defensive end in years past.
Last season, eight teams scored 80 or more points in the regular season. In 2021-22, when the Bulldogs ranked 10th in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency per KenPom, that number was six. The undefeated squad the season prior allowed 80 or more four times. Obviously more factors like pace of play factor into that stat, but sometimes having a good offense can lead to a good defense — or at the very least cover up some deficiencies.
NEED TO GET DUSTY INVOLVED
Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford
To be fair to freshman Dusty Stromer, he unexpectedly got thrust into the limelight on day one as a freshman who had to start and play heavy minutes for one of the top programs in the country. His workload was cut down after Ben Gregg was inserted into the starting lineup, which put Stromer as one of the first guys off Few's bench to allow for more freedom and less stress of having to come in and have an impact from the opening tip.
As of late though, Stromer hasn't had much of an effect on the offensive end of the floor. He's scored 11 total points in his last seven games, including four scoreless outings. After finishing with one point against Pacific, Stromer hasn't had a field goal go down since the Portland game on Feb. 7.
"I have no idea [how to get Stromer more involved]," Few said. "If I had that answer we'd have it solved by now. He needs to be more assertive and play more confident. Hopefully some good things will happen."
Defensively, Stromer has been active one-on-one, in his rotations and on the defensive glass. Competing and playing hard will always earn him minutes as a freshman, though the Bulldogs would certainly welcome a more aggressive approach from Stromer offensively as well. Whether that's in transition, offensive putbacks or another second-chance opportunity where the defense isn't quite set.
