Three Thoughts on Kansas’ 89-68 Loss to Gonzaga
The Kansas Jayhawks season came to an end on Sunday after losing 89-68 to the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
The first half of the game was one of the best starts to an NCAA Tournament game this season, with both teams trading blows. After a spirited first 20 minutes, Kansas eventually took a one-point lead into the halftime break, thanks to an impressive shooting performance from deep. Gonzaga came out for the second half ready to flip the script and captured a dominant victory powered by an incredible second half.
With that said, here are three thoughts on the game.
THREE-POINT IMPROVEMENT
Despite being a relatively poor three-point shooting team in 2023-24 (11th in Big 12, 32.9%), Kansas started the game off hot from 3-point land. The Jayhawks started 7-11 from 3, with big shots falling for Johnny Furphy, Hunter Dickinson, DaJuan Harris, and Nick Timberlake. Kansas’ improvement from deep helped the Jayhawks head into the locker room with a one-point lead, 44-43, over Mark Few and Gonzaga. While the second half of action brought forth many issues for Bill Self’s squad, the team still finished their day shooting 40.9% from three, well above their season average.
SECOND HALF SLUMP
When the commentary crew broadcasting the game starts comparing workout routines instead of talking basketball, that’s how fans can tell something has gone wrong. While Kansas returned to the court in the second half with a one-point lead, that storyline did not last long. Gonzaga came out on fire in the second half and hammered Kansas.
In the first five minutes of action after intermission, the Bulldogs outscored Kansas 20-5, including a 15-0 scoring run. Kansas’s scoring drought lasted more than four minutes before Hunter Dickinson eventually broke the streak on a putback off a missed shot.
At the under-12 media timeout of the matchup, the broadcast showed possibly one of the most one-sided graphics of the entire NCAA Tournament. Gonzaga outscored Kansas 31-9 at the time of the stoppage, which included 12/15 made shots from the field, 5/5 from three, 34 points in the paint, and 14 points off the bench. On the other side of the graphic was Kansas, who went 4/24 from the field, 1/7 from three, with 26 points in the paint, and just two points off the bench.
ZAGS ON A ROLL
Simply put, Kansas had no answer for Gonzaga’s offense. Five different Bulldogs reached double figures, including Anton Watson, Nolan Hickman, Graham Ike, Ben Gregg, and Braden Huff, while junior guard Ryan Nembhard put on a masterclass in game management.
Nembhard dished out 12 assists to his teammates on Saturday, which helped the five players above combine for 79 points. Senior forward Anton Watson led all scorers in the contest with 21 points, adding six rebounds, two blocks, and one assist. Watson also showed up defensively in tandem with Graham Ike, who helped limit All-American center Hunter Dickinson to 15 points and five rebounds.
