Post-Game Media Thread: Arizona

[RenoZag]

Post Game Quotes from Few, Perkins, Norvell Jr.

https://gozags.com/documents/2018/11/20//Game_8_Gonzaga_Quotes_112018.pdf

Q. What's the one or two things you need to do
tomorrow to get in the W column?

MARK FEW: Take better, take good care of the ball.
We have taken great care of the ball other than some
zaniness against Illinois which they can bring and then
this first half. You can't turn the ball over and let Duke
get out and run. And we just got to defend
aggressively, like we did in the second half there
without fouling. I think those will be two big keys. And
again I need to watch some more of them tonight, I've
just kind of been glancing at them here and there, so.

[RenoZag]

Arizona Daily Star:

https://tucson.com/sports/arizonawildcats/basketball/arizona-wildcats-unravel-in-second-half-during---loss/article_8e9842ba-ed40-11e8-a119-bb67d16c96e5.html#tracking-source=home-trending

One of the fouls that went against Arizona became the turning point of the game. With 12:03 left and Arizona leading 53-52, Jeter couldn’t get an entry pass, and was called for fouling Gonzaga’s Rui Hachimura under the basket as he fought for it.

Then, as he sprawled on the floor, Jeter looked up and complained to an official. Jeter was whistled for a technical foul, giving him his fourth and fifth fouls to send him out of the game. Not only that, but Norvell turned it into a four-point play, making his two technical foul shots and, when the Zags got the ball back afterward, went in for a layup to give Gonzaga a 56-53 lead.

The loss cost Jeter a chance to face Duke in the Maui Invitational final, after Jeter transferred to UA in 2017 after two seasons with the Blue Devils.

[RenoZag]

John Blanchette: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/201...replace-bad-z/

A mere 16 hours after dispatching the Wildcats, the Zags will tip it off against the nation’s No. 1-ranked team in the 2 p.m. PST championship game of the Maui Invitational.

A daunting turnaround – and not just for Gonzaga.

“I don’t want to see you guys in the bars tonight,” Bulldogs coach Mark Few cautioned the assembled typists at his postgame presser. “Be ready to come down here and cover this properly.”

Given that it’ll be Duke in the other uniforms, covering it properly would seem to require a shovel to clean up the roadkill. Ever since eviscerating Kentucky in the season opener, the Blue Devils have been all but unanimously acclaimed as a shoo-in for another national championship.

Vince Grippi: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/201...-dont-miss-mu/

The biggest eruption? It came from Norvell, who was a big part of the deficit-building by missing his first nine shots. He hit six of his last nine and finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. But it was Hachimura who led the Zags to the summit, scoring 17 points after halftime and 24 overall. Perkins also added 18 points, nine assists and just three turnovers.

But it was four defensive plays, three blocks and a forced 3-second call from Brandon Clarke that seemed to turn the momentum when Arizona had built the lead to 13. Those plays helped keep the Zags from losing contact.

As is the case in most comeback wins, the GU defense keyed the rally.

Jim Meehan: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/201...nzaga-past-ar/

Gonzaga trailed 50-37 before flipping the switch. Norvell scored the last seven points in a 19-3 run that gave GU a 56-53 lead. The Wildcats went back on top 61-60 on one of Justin Coleman’s six 3-pointers, but Perkins assisted on a Clarke layup and a Norvell 3, giving Gonzaga the lead for good.

Perkins’ and Norvell’s consecutive 3s expanded the margin to 79-67.

“Those are shots (in the first half) that we usually make,” Perkins said. “Shooters shoot, that’s what we say. And a guy like ‘Snacks’ (Norvell’s nickname), never lets his confidence waver.”

Hachimura scored a team-high 24 points. Clarke added 18 points and four blocked shots.

Coleman struck for 28 points, Brandon Randolph had 19 and Brandon Williams added 15, but Arizona finished with just three assists. The Wildcats scored only 29 points in the second half.

“We got tested and pushed to the brink, and we didn’t break,” Few said. “That’s a great sign moving forward.”

[RenoZag]

Slipper Still Fits: https://www.slipperstillfits.com/201...ona-game-recap

Much can be made of the refereeing at the tournament so far, but the Zags didn’t do themselves any favors with their woes at the free throw line. Arizona did its job at the line in the first half, shooting 19-22, while the Zags only converted 9 of 15 attempts. Foul trouble up and down the lineup during the first half forced Few into rolling out some “crazy” lineups, as he described it, and the lack of cohesion at both ends of the floor was telling.

“We lost our way,” said Few on his team’s first half performance. Whatever the half time adjustments were, they took a little while to manifest themselves on the floor. Gonzaga’s walk through the wilderness continued as the second half got underway, taking nearly three minutes to score its first points while Arizona built a 13-point lead. Hachimura ended the drought with a mid-range jumper that he hit consistently all night, and a takeaway at the defensive end led to a Norvell fastbreak dunk that sparked the Zags and turned the tide.

Arizona Desert Swarm: https://www.azdesertswarm.com/basket...bracket-auburn

“Obviously we were overwhelmed in the second half. Their defense, they started to switch both on and off the ball, not easy to do but the quickness that those two big guys had is very impressive. I mean they can switch out on guards, they really took us out of what we wanted to do and obviously a tale of two halves and they were the far superior team.”

While the Arizona Wildcats were reeling, a technical foul on Chase Jeter, also his fifth personal foul of the game, forced Coach Miller to play small ball.

With the Wildcats in front 54-53, a pair of free throws by Zach Norvell Jr. gave the Zags a 55-54 advantage. The rejuvenated Zags completely outmatched the Wildcats 38-20 from that point.

“I think the emotions got the best of Chase. He has to control his emotions in that situation. Really, we’re not a deep team as it is, especially up front, losing him didn’t help. And it really gave them adjust an extra surge of momentum at a very unique time in the game. Even though they were the better team through the first eight minutes of the second half, I don’t have it in front of me, but at the 12 minute mark it was still really either way.”

[ZagNative]

Dana O'Neil, The Athletic: https://theathletic.com/668534/2018/...hallenge-duke/

[Zagceo]

Thanks Reno & ZN