Never Want to Lose/ But Never Want Undefeated Again

[DZ]

I wanted to beat Duke badly.

But tonight, I admit, Duke was the better team, not by a big margin, but for tonight.

But I did NOT want to go the regular season undefeated again. It put even extra pressure on our guys. Plus, you learn some things when you lose.

We beat Texas, UCLA, we went down to the last minute with Duke (Who wll be No. 1 and we'll be 2, IMO), we have a game against a top 15 Alabama team we have to win, and not take Texas Tech lightly.

IF we make it through THAT non-conf. sched with one loss it is miraculous.

I also think this is the year our conf. win streak breaks. Good teams lurking out there. And that's okay, too.

I would love for this young team to go into the NCAA as a No. 1 seed in the West with 2-3 losses.

I hate Duke. I would'lve loved to have beat them. But we didn't want to be undefeated again. We played a tough game down to the wire. I'm happy.

[23dpg]

I don’t hate Duke but I agree with everything else.

[zagsfanforlife]

I will say this:

I’ve been to the last 10 final fours, and a ton of big games, Duke fan base is the most annoying and arrogant fan base— full of complete ass holes… cheering overrated before the game started, wanting to start fights before tip… just complete clowns. Wasn’t a fun experience dealing with them. There’s trash talking and then there is just being rude and mean.

[daskim]

GU 34-64 53.1% 6-21 3Pt 42 REB 22 AST 5 STL TO 22 FT 7-11
DK 31-67 46.3% 7-23 3Pt 31 REB 15 AST 11 STL TO 8 FT 15-25


It's clear where the difference was.

[jazzdelmar]

GU 34-64 53.1% 6-21 3Pt 42 REB 22 AST 5 STL TO 22 FT 7-11
DK 31-67 46.3% 7-23 3Pt 31 REB 15 AST 11 STL TO 8 FT 15-25


It's clear where the difference was.

True but their 10 misses kept us in the game. Check turnovers, 17-8

[RenoZag]

This was an Elite 8 / Final Four quality game. Ebb and flow, counter-punches. . .this is what high level basketball is supposed to look like. Margin of error is so narrow.

Zags TO's did them in. Zags need to improve re: taking care of the rock.

The future still looks bright

Good night.

[bartruff1]

Coach Beard of Texas said it best....we win....even if we lose...... in a game against a top team....

I suspect Strawther and Bolton are set as starters........ and Hickman will be getting minutes in big games....

[Zag365]

Zags TO's did them in. Zags need to improve re: taking care of the rock.

Definitely was the TOs plus we didn't have right scheme to control Banchero in first-half. He had so many good looks, got hot, and gave Duke a lot of confidence.

[jim77]

We had our chances but dribbled into trouble more than we should have. Good experience against a physical team. NEXT.

[jazzdelmar]

Koach can coach a little bit, that zone with 16 secs left was brilliant

[Plainsman]

Think Bolton should have got the ball at 17 seconds-could have used his speed and quickness to thread through the pressure and create.

[bballbeachbum]

Definitely was the TOs plus we didn't have right scheme to control Banchero in first-half. He had so many good looks, got hot, and gave Duke a lot of confidence.

Chet did stuff him his first try second half, seemed to cool his jets

Duke 15-25 from the line, Zags 7-11, huge stat, can't look away

[vandalzag]

Koach can coach a little bit, that zone with 16 secs left was brilliant

Yep deer in the headlight moment for Nembhard and the rest of the team. Tough thing about having Chet inbound is they lost the ability to pass over the token pressure.

[JPtheBeasta]

A game like this last year might have resulted in a National Championship. This was a good learning experience, defensively and offensively. That said, the Zags went cold at the end and this was a very winnable game for them.

The turnovers were frustrating, to be sure, and they should be able to clean those up. Several of them were due to poor spacing or holding into the ball too long.

This is the least annoyed I’ve been by a loss for a while.

[caduceus]

Good loss, teaching moment. Like others have said, nothing from this game to be worried about in the overall scheme of things. We have a lot of youth, and hung around even after almost going down double-digits. Fouls were frustrating, with bad calls on both sides.

Zags are still #1 on KenPom by a large margin, and only dropped two spots defensively (#9).

Agree it's good to put the "undefeated" issue behind them. One less pressure point to deal with.