What Gonzaga's Mark Few said after win at Portland

The Bulldogs snapped a two-game losing skid with a 43-point win over the Pilots
Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few watches the game from the sidelines during the second half against the Portland Pilots.
Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few watches the game from the sidelines during the second half against the Portland Pilots. / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

The Gonzaga men's basketball team made the most of its opportunities to get back on track Saturday with a 105-63 demolition of the Portland Pilots from the Chiles Center in Portland, Oregon.

Coming off back-to-back losses, the Bulldogs (15-6, 6-2 WCC) put on a masterclass in ball movement during one of their best performances on the offensive end of the floor of the season against the Pilots (7-15, 2-7 WCC). The Zags knocked down a season-high 42 field goals and recorded 31 assists, which was one shy of the program record that was set back in 1980. Senior forward Ben Gregg led the way in his return to the Rose City, as he finished with 24 points on 10-of-10 from the field in 20 minutes of action.

Meanwhile, Portland struggled to find any sort of rhythm offensively. After cutting their deficit to three points, the Pilots were outscored 23-6 over the final 6:44 of the first half. Gonzaga held its opponent to just 20-of-58 (34.5%) from the floor and scored 26 points off 15 turnovers.

"I liked our spirit," Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said after the game. "I thought we did a really nice job defensively for long, long stretches of that game. And then offensively, we had a good flow, good diversity."

Here's more from Few after Gonzaga's win.

On the changes to the starting lineup:

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Graham Ike (13) celebrates on the bench against the Portland Pilots.
Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Graham Ike (13) celebrates on the bench against the Portland Pilots. / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

"With Graham [Ike], we had to do something about that technical [foul against Santa Clara]. That technical really hurt us. He was spectacular with how he handled it. He was so apologetic, he felt horrible about it. He's as good of a person as we've had in our program in my whole time at Gonzaga. And then we played horrible defense in our last game so I was trying to give Emmanuel [Innocenti] a try. He's one of our best defensive players so, I was trying to give him some looks."

On Ben Gregg's big night:

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Ben Gregg (33) scores a basket during the second half against the Portland Pilots.
Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Ben Gregg (33) scores a basket during the second half against the Portland Pilots. / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

"He was great, obviously, to come back to your hometown and play like that and see the ball go in. [The Pilots] mixed up probably four defenses in there, maybe even more than that with their coverages, and Ben was the one who was finding those little gaps and those little voids and taking advantage of them."

On the big takeaways from the win following back-to-back losses:

Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few and his son guard Joe Few (15).
Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few watches the game as his son guard Joe Few (15) waits to enter the game during the second half against the Portland Pilots. / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

"Coming off two losses, there's a lot to take away from this. You wonder what the response is going to be. We don't lose very much; we rarely lose two in a row. Practices were hard, times were a little tense and you just don't know how your team is going to respond. So it was a good response.

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Cole Forsman
COLE FORSMAN

Cole Forsman is a reporter for Gonzaga Bulldogs On SI. Cole holds a degree in Journalism and Sports Management from Gonzaga University.