‘They have a chance to go a long, long way’: Campbell coach praises team’s effort, Zags

Campbell coach John Andrzejek did the math quickly in his head.

“I think they’re ranked seventh in the country right now,” Andrzejek said after Gonzaga’s 98-70 victory Wednesday at the McCarthey Athletic Center. “There are not six teams better than them, I’ll tell you that for sure.”

Andrzejek’s squad ran into the same problem encountered by most of Gonzaga’s opponents.

What do you do defensively with Braden Huff and Graham Ike? Huff erupted for a career-high 37 points and Ike finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and five assists before sitting out the final 10 minutes and 29 seconds.

The last time Andrzejek had to worry about Gonzaga’s frontcourt was as director of operations at San Francisco under then-coach Kyle Smith in 2016-17. GU’s post and forward options included Przemek Karnowski, Johnathan Williams, Zach Collins and Killian Tillie.

“It’s something I’ll toss and turn on. We talked about doubling them in the post,” Andrzejek said. “When I was in this position before at USF, we tried to double them in the post and that team went to the national championship game against North Carolina.

“A lot of teams in our position try to double them and it usually doesn’t go well. They’re so well-schooled about how to screen the defender on the back side, they have so much shooting. We did a couple post doubles but mostly tried to play them one on one. The teams that have somehow beaten them usually play them one on one.”

Andrzejek continued to keep a close eye on the Zags as an assistant for Smith at Washington State from 2019-23 and he’s made it an offseason habit to study GU’s offense.

“I’ve got utmost respect for this program,” he said. “I’ve literally watched every one of their offensive possessions for about four years straight. Every summer I rip through all of it. I think I could have called out some of their plays, but it’s hard. We really only had one or two days to prep.”

Still, the Fighting Camels put up a fight. They trailed by 19 at half but clawed back within 72-62 with 9:35 remaining before the Zags went on a 15-2 run.

“We knew we were really going to have to play the right way and be super physical and committed to our stuff just to be able to not get crushed, truthfully,” Andrzejek said. “We saw the Southern Utah score (122-50) and I’ve seen what happens to teams in this gym. I knew it would be nearly impossible to win, but I thought we could make progress for the program by hanging around, competing well, chipping away. I thought we were competitive.”

Campbell was far more competitive than GU’s home runaways over Southern Utah, Texas Southern (98-43) and North Florida (109-58). Even Creighton, ranked 23rd at the time, left the Kennel with a 27-point loss.

“They got it inside a lot, that hurt us,” Andrzejek said. “They took advantage of our lack of size and depth. They did what they’re supposed to do. We tried to combat it as best we could and play with some charisma offensively. The reason it wasn’t closer was because we turned it over too many times (20). It had to be under 11 to get that game under 20 or something like that.”

Campbell, a member of the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), has lined up against Wisconsin, West Virginia, Wake Forest and Penn State. The Fighting Camels face Minnesota on Sunday.

“I’ll tell you this: If I was a Gonzaga fan, I’d feel very good about this team,” Andrzejek said. “They have a chance to go a long, long way.”