Gonzaga’s Mark Few: ‘Absolutely throttled - I've never been involved with anything like that’

Michigan served notice to Mark Few and the rest of the college basketball world what coach Dusty May has been telling us since the summer — the Wolverines have a ridiculously high ceiling. They put on a show Thursday night in Las Vegas, capturing the Players Era championship with a 101-61 win over a previously unbeaten Bulldogs team some felt might be one of the best in the country with how they’ve played in November.  

Gonzaga coach Few was among them. But then came reality. In 902 games, he’d never been beaten like he was by May and his Wolverines. Start to finish, the Wolverines ran the Bulldogs off the floor.

“Michigan did a great job,” he said. “They were hitting threes, doing what they do great, which we knew they’d crash the glass and get out in transition. We just didn’t shore any of that up, and we were just horrendous on offense. A lot of that had to do with their pressure and physicality.

“I mean, look — we’re a team that really scores well inside. We were very efficient from two, and we literally couldn’t generate any scoring there at all, all night. I thought [forward] Braden [Huff] did a nice job of finding some creases in there and some pockets and was able to hit that little mid-range floater that he’s so effective. That’s essentially it. It’s crazy as good as we’ve been this year, but that was literally all we had offensively.”

A lot of that had to do with Michigan’s size and physicality. There’s just not much scoring at the rim once you get into the paint against this team. On the perimeter, the guards and wings were swarming and making it tough just to move the ball. 

“It’s a length, it’s a size, it’s a strength thing,” Few continued. “And then, that helps schematically. You’re not doubling. They played our post one-on-one, and when most people do that, we score 50 points in the paint. Tonight, we probably got three, you know? Again, Braden’s floaters were very, very effective, but hey — that’s something that just doesn’t ordinarily happen to us.

“You can’t run away from it, but you also can’t forget. We’ve had an incredible November. We played some really, really good teams and we’ve come out on top, and we’ve played some fantastic defense. We’ve played some really, really efficient offense. Tonight, that wasn’t happening … “

They probably could have kept it closer with better play, he noted, but they were clearly flustered. Overall, though, Few acknowledged what everyone saw with their own eyes.

“It’s about as negative as I can get,” he said. “Listen, guys, we got just absolutely throttled. I’ve never been involved with anything like that. So, this is going to be a great challenge and learning experience for me. But that being said, we’ve had an incredible November up to this point prior to two hours ago. We can really draw on that. And we can certainly be humbled when they watch film with me.”

And after what transpired, they likely will be when they see it again.