Gonzaga’s improving 3-point shooting, lane production in second half too much for Oregon

PORTLAND – Three takeaways at the buzzer after Gonzaga’s 91-82 win Sunday over Oregon at the Moda Center.

Threes a charm

Gonzaga is steadily reversing its early-season 3-point struggles into a team strength.

Steele Venters and Adam Miller led the way Sunday. Venters made 4 of 5 attempts while Miller connected on 3 of 5, all coming in the first half. Gonzaga hit 6 of its first 8 from distance and did most of its damage behind the arc in the opening half.

The Zags cooled off in the second half, with Venters accounted for two 3s in the second half while his teammates were a combined 0 of 6.

Still, it added up to a collective 10 of 23 performance (43.5%). Gonzaga has made at least 37.5% in six of the last seven games.

Lane opens in second half

For one of the rare times this season, Gonzaga was in a big hole in paint points, down 16-8 at halftime against the Ducks, who have a strong interior duo in Nate Bittle and Kwame Evans Jr. Michigan was the lone Zag opponent to win the paint (42-34) in a 40-point blowout victory in Las Vegas.

Gonzaga turned it around in the second half. It was the usual suspects as Braden Huff (20 points), Graham Ike (17 points) and Tyon-Grant Foster, who chipped in 10 points.

But it was also backup point guard Braeden Smith, who scored on several drives inside en route to 21 points, his highest scoring game by 10 points this season.

Gonzaga won the paint points 22-10 in the closing 20 minutes and, after a couple of late Oregon baskets, went 28-26 overall. Bittle finished with 28 points and Evans added 14.

Only Michigan outscored GU in lane points (42-34). GU had a 23 -point edge on average.

Non-con success

The Bulldogs concluded nonconference play with one loss, to second-ranked Michigan. It’s just the seventh time GU has opened West Coast Conference play with zero or one loss.

It’s typically been a good indication that Gonzaga is positioned for a lengthy NCAA Tournament run.

The only two unbeaten nonconference campaigns resulted in title-game appearances. The 2021 team went 9-0 and remained unbeaten before falling to Baylor in the championship game. The 2017 squad was 12-0 entering conference and finished 37-2 after losing to North Carolina in the title game.

GU’s one-loss pre-WCC teams saw its seasons end in the first round (1995), second round (2013) and Elite Eight (2015). The 2020 Zags’ season ended when the NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the COVID pandemic.