Bench production, ball security both big factors for Texas in 74-68 win over Gonzaga | Rewind

PORTLAND – Mark Few was still processing

what happened in the final moments of a 74-68 loss to Texas. Processing the end of another 30-win season. Mainly processing that he’d just coached a group of six seniors for the final time at Gonzaga.

So when a reporter asked Few about Gonzaga’s impending move to the Pac-12 Conference, it hadn’t registered with the longtime coach that his program had just played its 1,505th and final game as a member of the West Coast Conference.

“Honestly the weird, strange, just awful thing that I’m thinking about is not being able to coach these guys,” Few said. “I mean, that’s what you process first. And you kind of just got to get over that and with time that will happen and it does take time …

“So I haven’t even thought about really the Pac-12, to be honest with you. We’ve just been focused day by day in kind of this deal and now like I said, no matter how many times it’s happened it’s kind of just shocking how fast it happens and all of a sudden you’re one stop away from winning a game and then it’s over.”

Gonzaga’s six-point loss in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 happened for a variety of reasons, but Texas’ bench and the Zags’ continued 3-point shooting struggles both played big roles on Saturday in the Rose City.

Bench bump

When you pull up the national leaderboard for bench points per game, it doesn’t take long to locate Gonzaga.

At 33.8 ppg, the Zags had one of the most effective bench units in college basketball this season, ranking No. 7 nationally.

You’d have to scroll quite a bit to find Texas on the same list.

The Longhorns have capable reserves, but have been buoyed mostly by four starters who combine to average 59.7 ppg – or 71.2% of the team’s total scoring. Texas ranks 282 spots lower than Gonzaga, getting 17.2 ppg from its bench.

The Longhorns came up with a win in that category on Saturday, however, as Texas’ reserves outscored Gonzaga’s subs 20-13.

Only two bench players contributed for each team, with Texas forward Nic Codie registering a season-high 12 points and guard Chendall Weaver adding eight more. Codie finished 5 of 6 from the field and had four rebounds to go with three assists.

“He was called on, I think playing 26 minutes, might have been the most he’s played in a long time,” Texas coach Sean Miller said. “But he’s gotten better. Again, back to my point, the season is long, it’s filled with a lot of high moments and sometimes low moments. Nic went a long stretch where he didn’t even play in the game. But he stayed with it, he didn’t give in, he kept working and when his opportunity came he’s gotten better and better and better.”

Gonzaga’s bench supplied 26 points in Thursday’s NCAA opener against Kennesaw State, but the 13 points scored on Saturday came from just two players: Tyon Grant-Foster (7) and Davis Fogle (6).

“Honestly, the thing that really probably hurt us the worst was their role players came in and just, I mean we gave up 12 to Codie and eight to Weaver,” Few said. “They’re good players, but I thought we by and large did a good job on their kind of best scoring options. But those guys killed us. That’s 20 points.”

3-ball bites Zags

Gonzaga hoped a breakthrough from the 3-point line had finally arrived when it torched Santa Clara for 10 3s in the West Coast Conference Tournament championship game.

Ultimately, it was short-lived.

The Zags made fewer 3s in two games at the NCAA Tournament than they did in a single game against Santa Clara, going 3 of 18 (16%) against Kennesaw State before making 4 of 16 (25%) against Texas for a combined 7 of 34 (20%) at the Moda Center.

Outside shooting struggles started for Gonzaga in the season opener and followed Few’s team to Saturday’s finale against Texas. The Zags made 31.8% from behind the arc on Nov. 3 against Texas Southern and shot below 34% in their first four games.

Gonzaga built its roster around low-post scoring threats Graham Ike and Braden Huff, but still finished the year shooting 33.3% from distance, signifying the lowest percentage by any of Few’s teams. It’s also the first time in 27 years a Gonzaga team has shot below 35% from the 3-point line.

The Zags shot 30% or lower in exactly half of their 34 games and had four games making under 20%.

Low-turnover Longhorns

From Gonzaga’s season opener to a Feb. 4 loss at Portland, the Zags forced 24 consecutive teams into at least 10 turnovers.

The Longhorns took care of the ball in a way few others have against Gonzaga, turning it over just five times – the fewest amount forced by the Zags this season and the fewest committed by Texas this season. Texas assisted on 20 of its 31 baskets (64.5%), totaling at least 20 assists for just the third time this season.

“These guys will tell you, there’s nothing that we talk more about right now than the value of limiting turnovers, trying to play the game with single-digit turnovers,” Miller said. “The other number that really jumps out is we had 20 assists. So if you play an NCAA Tournament game, 20 assists and five turnovers, you certainly have to feel good about your offense.”

Gonzaga finished with 21 assists, but committed two more turnovers than Texas, which finished with an 11-12 advantage in points off turnovers.