Instant takeaways: Defense helps Gonzaga topple Oklahoma 83-68

Here are three takeaways from Gonzaga’s 83-68 victory over Oklahoma on Saturday night at the Spokane Arena.

Grade A for the D

It’s early, but Gonzaga’s defense has certainly been impressive through two games.

The Zags put the clamps on Texas Southern 98-43 in the season opener, limiting the Tigers to five second-half field goals and 16 points.

Gonzaga’s length and interior size bothered Oklahoma from the outset. The Sooners led 8-3 before the Zags’ defense started to take over. Tyon Grant-Foster came from the weak side to swat OU guard Xzayvier Brown’s layup attempt, and the GU wing converted at the other end with a baseline drive and dunk.

In the opening half, Gonzaga came up with five steals, forced 10 turnovers and held the Sooners to 31% shooting. Eleven of Oklahoma’s 30 first-half points came at the foul line.

Oklahoma heated up a little from the field in the second half and finished at 39.7% overall.

Gonzaga had nine steals and forced 17 Texas Southern turnovers on Monday.

Warley’s versatility on display

Jalen Warley, a Swiss Army knife defender, had a big opening half at both ends of the court.

The 6-foot-7 Warley, who sat out last season after transferring from Virginia, put up 9 points and pulled down five boards, all while showing off his defensive versatility.

Warley spent time guarding Tae Davis, a 6-9 forward who averaged 15 points last season at Notre Dame, and guards Nijel Pack (5-10) and Brown (6-2). Davis finished the first half with just 2 points on a pair of free throws. Brown had 5 points at the break on 2-of-6 shooting. Pack led OU with 9 first-half points.

Warley’s highest scoring average was 7.5 points in his first three seasons at Florida State. He finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.

He also helped bring the ball down court against Oklahoma’s full-court press in the final five minutes.

Shades of Baylor

Gonzaga’s rout of the Sooners had numerous similarities to the Zags’ 101-63 blowout of Baylor last November at the Arena, right down to the halftime score. GU led 49-30 at intermission in both games.

Grant-Foster, a Grand Canyon transfer, introduced himself to the Arena crowd with a big first half, including 10 points, one monster dunk, and four boards. A year ago, it was Arkansas transfer Khalif Battle drilling three straight 3-pointers in the season-opening blowout over Baylor.

The Zags completely dominated the stat sheet in the opening half against the Sooners. The most startling stat – Gonzaga’s 38-4 advantage in paint points, even with a handful of misses from close range.

GU owned the rebounds 26-14, with 10 on the offensive glass, leading to an 11-0 advantage in second-chance points. Three of those came on one long possession that ended with Tyon Grant-Foster retrieving his own miss and scoring on a layup.

Gonzaga, led by Mario Saint-Supery’s four assists, held an 11-3 advantage in assists.

The freshman guard finished with a team-high six assists and GU closed the game with 22 assists.