LAS VEGAS – Julian Strawther won it on a 3-pointer with 6 seconds left.

Drew Timme

LAS VEGAS – Drew Timme had a sense of what was coming when he saw the caller ID flash across the phone. 

LAS VEGAS – Liberty High School. Orleans Arena. T-Mobile Arena. The list of gymnasiums with a 702 area code that have played a role in Julian Strawther’s career is long, and only getting longer.

It’s become a popular route for Gonzaga players upon checking out of games. They’ll trade words with Mark Few. They’ll go down the line of folding chairs exchanging high-fives and fist bumps with teammates. Finally, they’ll stop at the end of the bench and pull up a seat next to the team’s first-year student assistant.

DENVER – As Drew Timme put it in a postgame interview, Gonzaga spent too much time “bobbing and weaving” as the Bulldogs fell into a 10-point hole in the first half of Sunday’s game against TCU.

DENVER – Over the course of 40 minutes in Denver’s high altitude, Drew Timme was the Gonzaga player consistently making the hustle plays, spilling his sweat in the post and expending the energy that was needed to match the physicality and athleticism of TCU.

DENVER – Drew Timme occasionally trains with Mike Miles Jr. in the offseason. Rasir Bolton had two encounters with the TCU guard during his 2020-21 season at Iowa State. Coach Mark Few saw Miles in action two summers ago when he teamed up with Chet Holmgren on Team USA’s U-19 FIBA World Cup team.