Gonzaga Basketball: Still Alive

CoachDay
Feb 26
2 min read

You may have missed it while sound asleep, but late last night, Gonzaga & Santa Clara tipped off in a Quad 1 mega-crucial matchup. Gonzaga, desperate for Q1 wins to escape the dreaded 8/9 seeding, faced a Santa Clara squad riding the momentum of their historic 23-of-38 shooting performance from deep—including 15-of-19 in the first half—in their last game. That hot streak continued early, as Santa Clara started 8-for-8 from three. With the Zags looking destined for First Four territory, their bigs—Graham Ike, Braden Huff, & Michael Ajayi—all picked up two or more fouls, putting their depth to the test.

Enter Ismaila Diagne—the freshman from Senegal. The 7-footer had rarely played significant minutes all season, but he made his presence felt immediately. A thunderous dunk off a pick-and-roll, followed by a massive block on the defensive end, completely flipped the momentum. The Zags rode that spark into a 10-0 run to close the half, heading into the break with a 44-42 lead.

The BIG mo had shifted for good, as Gonzaga came out firing in the second half with a 23-10 run to bury Santa Clara. Ryan Nembhard broke the WCC single-season assist record and added 15 more dimes to his total for good measure. The Zags completely flipped the script, rolling to a 95-76 win. If this version of Gonzaga shows up in March, a 1- or 2-seed will NOT want to see them in a second-round matchup. (Of course, if it’s Duke or Auburn, they’ll be fine, but any other top seed has looked vulnerable.)

But Gonzaga has to build on this. Another Q1 opportunity awaits Saturday night against San Francisco, a team just as hungry. This game isn’t just about NCAA Tournament seeding—it also determines the 2-seed in the WCC Tournament, which comes with a bye to the semifinals. The Zags took the first meeting, but it was a back-and-forth affair until the final four minutes.

March 1st falls on Saturday, so let the Madness begin. As a Zags lifer, this is the most uncertain I’ve felt about a team since 2016, but flashes of grit and depth—like last night—give me hope for some kind of March Magic from the Cinderella of the good ol’ days.