What Mark Few said after Gonzaga advanced to Players Era Festival championship with decisive win over Maryland

Zags cruise by the Terrapins to face Wolverines in championship round

Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few. | Photo by Myk Crawford

Anyone who used to spend the week of Thanksgiving watching college basketball multi-team events featuring traditional tournament brackets probably didn't appreciate the amount of math that was involved in figuring out which teams would be advancing to the championship and third-place games in the Players Era Festival.

Point differential was used to sort out the five teams that went 2-0 through the first two days of the 18-team event, creating quite the numbers game as four 1-0 teams went against one another — Gonzaga battled Maryland, while Michigan looked to close out a blowout victory over Auburn, after 5:30 p.m. PT time.

The Bulldogs needed to win by at least 13 to have a shot at competing for the $1 million NIL cash prize and wound up going over the tournament's 20-point cap instead, throttling the Terrapins in a 100-61 final from MGM Garden Arena to advance to the championship game on Wednesday.

The Wolverines' 102-72 win over the Tigers vaulted Michigan to the top of the Players Era Festival standings with a 2-0 record and +40 point differential. Gonzaga, which went into the day with a +10 differential, had to surpass Tennessee’s point differential (+23) or outscore the Volunteers (161) in its contest against Maryland.

Those worries were washed away within the first few minutes of the second half, as the Zags started 8-of-8 from the field to grow their lead to 22 points after the Terrapins managed to trim into their 21-point first-half deficit before the break.

Gonzaga withstood some pushback from its ACC foe and remained hot from downtown throughout, knocking down a season-high 14 3-pointers while recording 30 assists on 37 made field goals overall. Braden Huff led the way with 20 points while Emmanuel Innocenti knocked down a career-high four 3-pointers to finish with 15 points, his most while wearing a Gonzaga uniform.

That set up a rematch of the 2019 Battle 4 Atlantis championship between Gonzaga and Michigan, two teams ranked inside the top five of KenPom.com, thanks in large part to the frontcourt play from Graham Ike and Braden Huff for the Zags, and Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara for the Wolverines.

Wednesday's matchup from MGM Grand Garden Arena is set for 6:30 p.m. PT on TNT and HBO Max.

Here's what Mark Few had to say about the matchup and his team's big win over Maryland:

On what led to Gonzaga's big night from 3-point range

"These guys have been working hard. They put in a lot of reps, so just the way [the Terrapins] collapse on the ball, I think was just kind of their style of play kind of lends itself. Especially on some of those throw aheads, because we were able to collapse the defense so much, and then we're also playing out of the post double."

Nov 25, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Emmanuel Innocenti (5) shoots a three-pointer in the first half against Maryland Terrapins. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

"I thought we did a nice job. A little choppy there for a while, but we found some good shots and some good actions out of the post double."

On whether he likes the format of the Players Era Festival

"I mean, that's how the Olympics are played. That's how the World Cups played, and I got good experience with that, so, yeah; I think that it's a good thing. These guys are old enough and mature enough to handle it. I don't think you need to always sub everybody and feel bad about scoring at the end of the games. I mean, I never do when somebody puts it on us."

On Innocenti's big night from behind the arc

"He's got a beautiful shot, one of the best shots on the team. I mean, it's just a matter of time before you know the dam broke, because he's been putting his reps in. Every time he shoots it, it looks like it's going in."

On the preparation process going into the Maryland game

"I don't think people really understand how hard the staffs work. The staffs have to hustle back after these games and start putting together scouting reports and edits, and then my job is to kind of get it so the guys can absorb it, because there's a tremendous amount of information, a there's only a slight amount that can be absorbed in that short of time."

Nov 25, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Maryland Terrapins guard Andre Mills (7) shoots while defended by Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Graham Ike (15). | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

"These guys did a great job. That's how we got those 3s. We took pretty good care of the ball and played great defense."

On facing Michigan in the championship game

"[The Wolverines are] very big, incredible size; probably one of the biggest teams in college basketball. [They're] old and Dusty [May] does a great job kind of putting those guys in the right spots, and they look really, really good. They've just blasted everybody down here, so we know it's going to be a really, really tough game."