What Gonzaga's Ryan Nembhard said after loss vs. Oregon State

Bulldogs senior guard broke down what happened down the stretch of the Bulldogs' overtime loss to the Beavers

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Ryan Nembhard (0) shoots a thee point shot over Oregon State Beavers guard Damarco Minor. | Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

The Oregon State Beavers (14-4, 4-2 WCC) managed to outlast the Gonzaga Bulldogs (14-5, 5-1 WCC) in a 97-89 overtime final Thursday night from Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Oregon.

After controlling the lead for much of the second half, the Zags appeared to have momentum on their side as they went ahead 76-71 with just under 6 minutes left in regulation. The Beavers, however, couldn't be contained on the other end of the floor, as they went on an 8-1 scoring run to lead 81-77 with 38 seconds on the clock.

Then, Ben Gregg drilled a 3-pointer from near the corner to make it a 1-point game, followed by Graham Ike on the ensuing Gonzaga possession to tie things up at 83 apiece with 4 seconds left.

"We went into the huddle [before overtime] saying 'momentum's on our side,'" senior guard Ryan Nembard said. "[Michael Rataj] banked in the 3 and then I think he made another one right after that. We didn't execute offensively, and that's the game right there. You only have five minutes at that point, so you gotta really execute."

Despite 26 points from Graham Ike and a 13-point, 10-assist effort from Ryan Nembhard, the Zags couldn't hold off the Beavers down the stretch of overtime, suffering their first true road loss since last January's letdown at Santa Clara.

Here's what Nembhard said after the game.

On Gonzaga's struggles defensively:

"We had a struggle defensively all game. This is probably one of our worst defensive games of the year. We let guys drive us, we let guys knock down 3s; pretty much everything that we shouldn't allow. Can't do that, and if you want to win these games, we gotta tighten that up for sure.”

On Graham Ike's big night:

“He was huge for us. That's what he does, and he needs guys to help him out, and a lot of us struggled offensively today, so we got to be better for him, especially down the stretch in those moments."

On Gonzaga's approach while facing a quick turnaround before Santa Clara on Saturday:

“We gotta have a good approach tomorrow. We'll have practice, it'll probably be a little lighter day, but we gotta go figure some things out defensively. We scored enough to win the game tonight but defensively we weren't good enough so, that'll definitely be the focus."

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