I don't know that we can draw any negative conclusions regarding Gonzaga.
UCONN will be top 15 come Monday afternoon. This was a "neutral" site game, similar to how Seattle was "neutral" for Gonzaga when we came to town. UCONN had the home court advantage.
Two good teams played. UCONN won by 6 in the end.
I wish Gonzaga had won it. I hope they can beat UCLA to close out the year and their non-conference schedule. But I don't think this buries them or anything. Memphis lost to Arkansas state the other day and bounced back nicely today.
Watch Hickman play in big games-he sucks. He doesn't do anything. He's a guy who gets credited for a calm demeanor-I think we've seen enough of his career to conclude he's just terrified of a big game environment. But hey-he got to stay home, play in a crap league--rack up a ton of W's and then gets to play in the NCAA Tournament every year and hope his teammates carry his ***. Nice gig if you can get it. Credit Few for finally putting his butt on the bench.
Ike was overwhelmed in this game. Just as he was a massive liability down the stretch last weekend. He's a non factor defensively and if he's not going to rebound-get him out as well. His mechanical offensive moves were just too slow and top tier teams can exploit him when needed. Few also adjusted by yanking him-another smart move.
Zags have 2 tough kids in Battle and Nembhard you can count on in most games. Ajayi joined them tonight and Gregg was absent and Huff had a few moments here/there. They will be weakened once they go into Conference and seeing some of the teams I've seen-that will face tough competition that will put Zags at a disadvantage this year come March IMO. Maybe they do what you say/win big but this team is a bit overrated and that UK stunner for them really zapped them.
Their program seems to lose these type of games in these type of environments too much for me, but each their own.