WICHITA – Slow starts in the NCAA Tournament will get you every time.
That’s a lesson Georgia learned in the hardest of ways Thursday as a substantial first-half hole ruined any chance the Bulldogs had of advancing past Gonzaga, which rolled to an easy 89-68 win.
Georgia ends its season at 20-13, while the Zags (26-8) can advance to their 10th-straight Sweet 16 by beating No. 1 seed Houston in Saturday’s second-round game.
“I didn't see that coming,” head coach Mike White said. “I didn't anticipate that outcome, especially the first ten minutes of the game.”
The game would be over almost as soon as it began, as Gonzaga rushed out to a 13-0 lead and increased the margin to 27-3 barely nine minutes into the contest.
Georgia would not get closer than 14 the rest of the way.
“We had a couple of empty possessions early, complemented by their urgency in transition offense, complemented by a couple of shots that were pretty well-guarded that go down and all of a sudden you find yourself down double digits without having scored a point,” White said. “Those empty offensive possessions early, again, with them making shots and them scoring on the interior, you could just see it with our body language.”
Gonzaga guard Nolan Hickman thought the Bulldogs were tentative from the opening tip of the game.
“Yeah, for sure. The first possession I kind of felt a sense of that,” Hickman said. “My guys were kind of like calm, composed, very energetic, ready to go. I don't quite want to bash any of the Georgia guys, but it showed. It showed in the first possession of the game.”
This one was basically over 10 minutes into the game as Gonzaga scored the first 13 points before a put-back by Asa Newell gave Georgia its first bucket at the 15:48 mark.
It would get much worse.
Gonzaga led by 24 points with 11:44 on the clock before White called a timeout. Georgia’s coach was asked why he waited so long.
“We had a couple of stops there where I thought we had some numbers. I guess I just took -- I thought a couple of those possessions, one or two of those possessions, we might have got a score to settle us in a little bit,” he said. “At that point, though, it was time to take one.”
Georgia would draw within 14 with 4:40 left in the first half but would get no closer as nine straight points by Hickman extended the lead back to 23 before Gonzaga settled for a 48-27 halftime lead.
The Zags cruised from there.
“In our guys' defense -- and we talk about this in scouting all the time. If this happens, it's on us (coaches), right? We've got a group that's incredibly bought in, starting with these two guys. We've got to do X, Y, and Z, and these guys are going to try to do X, Y, and Z to the best of their ability every single time. These guys are high-character people and high-character players,” White said. “We wanted to protect the paint. Their efficiency in the paint, their two-point percentage, and their two-point prowess all year is off the charts. They shoot the three well, but they don't shoot it often. So, for 72 hours, our stress to these guys has been forcing skips and forcing the bigs to pass it. They made us pay.”
Ten turnovers were a big problem as they led to 20 of Gonzaga’s 48 points. They also represented more than the eight made field goals for Georgia, which converted just one of its first 13 three-point attempts.
Meanwhile, the Zags could not miss.
Gonzaga shot 58 percent from the field to start the game, including 8 of its first 11 three-point attempts, finishing 12 of 20 for the game.
Newell led the Bulldogs with 20 points, followed by Silas Demary Jr. with 15 with Blue Cain and Somto Cyril adding 10 each.
