On the first leg of the road trip through the state of Oregon, the hangover for the No. 6 Gonzaga Bulldogs (22-2, 10-1 WCC) from the rivalry victory over the Saint Mary’s Gaels the previous Saturday night in Spokane, Washington, was clearly evident.
After shutting down West Coast Conference Player of the Year frontrunner, Lithuanian Gaels junior forward Paulius Murauskas, in the second half over the weekend, no answer could be found in slowing down West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year frontrunner, Australian
Portland Pilots guard Joel Foxwell, throughout the entire game on Wednesday night.
Even rocking the stunning royal blue throwbacks, the Zags came out lacking energy from the tip and gave up a 15-5 deficit to the Pilots before the first television timeout. The defensive attention to detail, especially when continuously going under the screen, was lacking from the start. Miscue after miscue, it seemed, from a team that came in having won 15 in a row.
Give credit where credit is due, as Portland was getting quality looks throughout, especially from Foxwell. He left it all out on the floor, even when dealing with cramping towards the late part of the second half, tying his career-high for the third time with 27 points on 11-for-18 field goals and a game-high eight assists for the Pilots.
Containing the young lead guard was the game plan coming into this specific conference matchup for coach Mark Few. Foxwell, the West Coast Conference assists leader at 6.8 per game in just his first college basketball campaign, is leaned on heavily by the injured coach Shantay Legans (who tore his Achilles practicing on the scout team earlier in the week).
When coming off the ball, Foxwell looks like one of the best passers in the country as just a 20-year-old freshman. As a shooter, Foxwell has a quick trigger and could hit from anywhere on the floor during this out-of-body experience he had against Gonzaga in front of the home Chiles Center crowd.
The pace of play and ability to outrebound Gonzaga were also major factors for Legan’s unit in completing this historic win for the university. The Zags’ first rebound in this game didn’t come until the 12:41 mark. The Pilots won the rebounding battle, 32-27, behind 7-1 senior center Jermaine Ballisager-Webb’s nine boards.
The lack of effort and determination on the glass from Gonzaga could be seen immediately from the get-go. Just disappointing to witness a group that has excelled in that facet of the game, averaging the seventh-highest amount in the NCAA at 42.5 per game.
The Zags are also one of the best at scoring inside the paint, but many wouldn’t have known that after tonight. In fact, Gonzaga leads the nation in points in the paint at 47.1 per game, but was outscored 40-26 in that area in the Rose City.
The return of redshirt junior forward Braden Huff couldn’t come fast enough at this point. Graduate forward Graham Ike (12th double-double of the season with 27 points and 10 rebounds) has truly turned into a three-level scoring threat throughout his time in Spokane, but there’s only so much he can do out there without any other offensive support at the rim.
The Zags’ second unit simply outplayed their starters, with much more hostility and ‘pep in their step.‘ That begs the questions surrounding Few’s starting lineup and rotation going forward, especially at the lead guard spot.
Redshirt junior Braeden Smith has struggled as of late, to say the least. His impact has been minimal when out on the floor. In the entire sport, he has the eleventh-highest assist/turnover ratio among players averaging at least 5.0 assists per 40 minutes played. Freshman Mario Saint Supery looked better and was able to step out on the perimeter with his stroke, but he can still be a liability on the defensive end at times.
This was actually one of Gonzaga’s better outside shooting performances in quite a while, hitting 10-for-30 three-pointers. Graduate wing Steele Venters, against his former Eastern Washington Eagles coach in Legans, looked like he was going to turn a page after hitting his first two in the first half. He then faded into the background in the second half, going 2-for-7 from deep in 22 minutes of play off the bench.
It was a valiant effort to try to cut the lead down to five through their full-court press and traps near the corner, but much too late. Portland, now with an 11-14 overall record (4-8 in conference play), came in ranked No. 213 in KenPom and No. 230 in the NET. They were an unbelievable 22.5-point underdogs at home against the Zags (per FanDuel Sportsbook) and still stunned the world.
This is one of the worst losses in the Few era. More than the Loyola Marymount Lions’ loss in the McCarthey Athletic Center back in 2023, possibly even more than the 40-point disaster to the Michigan Wolverines in the Players Era Festival title game in the earlier non-conference this season.
The Pilots get their first-ever win vs. a Top 10 opponent and break their 20-game skid against Gonzaga, now 3-47 overall record since 2000. That’s also Portland’s first win vs a ranked opponent since 2014 (previous one was against the No. 20 Zags on Jan. 9).
This is the kind of remarkable outing that will cost this team multiple seed lines for the NCAA Tournament, eliminating any chance they previously had of getting a No. 1 seed.
In other news, the Santa Clara Broncos beat the Pacific Tigers on the road at the Spanos Center and currently stand 11-1 in conference play, 20-5 overall. Gonzaga will visit the coach Herb Sendek’s Broncos at the Leavey Center this upcoming Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, with potential control of first place in the West Coast Conference standings on the line.
Before that, the second and final leg of the Oregon road trip for the Zags will take place in Corvallis against the Oregon State Beavers (13-12, 6-6 WCC). The scheduled start time is an early one at 3 p.m. PT at the Gill Coliseum on ESPN+/KHQ.
KenPom/NET Update
Gonzaga falls to No. 14 in KenPom with the 29th-ranked adjusted offensive efficiency and 13th-ranked defensive efficiency. This loss at Portland will be a Quad 4 defeat for the Zags.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
