Drew Timme on Gonzaga's Sweet 16 win: 'I don't really know what UCLA was doing to be honest'

On Friday, Timme admitted that he was puzzled by the Bruins' defensive approach in the NCAA Tournament

LAS VEGAS — Drew Timme had a historic performance against UCLA in the Sweet 16 leading Gonzaga with 36 points, 13 rebounds and four assists in a 79-76 win.

On Friday, Timme admitted that he was puzzled by the Bruins' defensive approach.

"I don't really know what UCLA was doing to be honest," he said. "They were letting me get to whatever I wanted. They weren't really giving me much resistance so I mean I thought that was a little weird to be honest."

The Bruins, the No. 2 ranked team in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency, had no answer for Timme who went 16-of-24 from the field. UCLA was without starting center Adem Bona, who was out with a shoulder injury, leaving bigs Mac Etienne and Kenneth Nwuba to defend Gonzaga's all-time leading scorer by themselves. The Bruins' rarely double-teamed Timme.  

Other Gonzaga players were surprised by UCLA's defensive game plan as well.

"It was interesting," Julian Strawther said. "This season as an offense, we've seen a lot of true double teams so we're used to playing out of that. Maybe their idea was they've been comfortable playing out of double teams all year let's see what they can do...It was one of those things where I know Drew is going to dominate one-on-one any time he gets the chance so just keep feeding him the ball...Him playing one-on-one, I like our chances."

Rasir Bolton added: "They weren't really loading the paint up on him so it looked like he just kinda had free rein to do what he does."

Gonzaga will take on UConn in the Elite 8 on Saturday night in Las Vegas. All three of the Huskies' bigs are healthy and Timme is expecting more of a challenge. 

"We're definitely going to have to make some adjustments on the fly," he said.