Mark Few praises Gonzaga's defense: ‘Guys are playing with great effort’

The Bulldogs looked stout defensively in their wins over San Diego State and Long Beach State

Gonzaga's Michael Ajayi (left), Khalif Battle (middle) and Graham Ike (right). / Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

It’s become a common occurrence over the last decade or so to check KenPom.com’s rankings and see the Gonzaga men’s basketball team rank near the top of the country in a handful of key statistical categories related to offense. The Bulldogs have finished top five in offensive efficiency in each of the past six seasons, including four No. 1 finishes.

The Zags (5-0) are on pace to continue that trend in 2024-25, as they sit atop KenPom’s database while putting up 93.2 points per game. But after holding Long Beach State to a season-low 41 points, 48 hours following a gritty performance on the road at San Diego State, head coach Mark Few had nothing but praise for how hard his team has competed on the defensive end of the floor as of late.

"I think we had really, really, really good week on the defensive end, and then obviously the offense has continued to just be kind of coming along," Few said after the Bulldogs beat the Beach, 84-81, at the McCarthey Athletic Center. "But we had a great, great week defensively. That was two good halves there. We had a little five-minute letdown there at the end of the second or into the first half. But our numbers are getting better, and the guys are playing with great effort, playing with great physicality and against this team, we played pretty clean too."

To Few’s point, Gonzaga’s intensity and toughness to start the season have boosted its ratings from where they stood in the preseason prediction models. Heading into the showdown with San Diego State at the Viejas Arena, KenPom had the Zags ranked No. 33 in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency. Since holding the Aztecs to just 23-of-61 (37.7%) from the field, then putting the clamps down even harder on Long Beach State, Gonzaga has moved up to No. 17 in that category.

"They did a better job, I think, than we've done all year, really getting over the top of almost all of those screens and then we did a good job contesting,” Few said of his team limiting the Beach to 2-of-20 from 3-point range. “I don't think [Long Beach State] got a lot of really, really good looks to be honest with you. And instead, we had our hands high at the end. And like I said, those two guards coming in have shot a lot of free throws, and shot free throws really, really well, and had a real knack for drawing fouls. So I thought we had some nice discipline."

The Zags haven’t lost much focus on defense since their opening-night triumph over then-No. 8 Baylor. The Bears went a season-worst 23-of-62 (37.1%) from the field and 3-of-21 (14.3%) from long range. Certainly not par for the course for a team that currently ranks No. 5 in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency. 

Already three weeks into the season, Gonzaga’s proven it can at least match the physicality of some of the hardest-nosed teams in the sport, if not feel overwhelming to its opposition at times given the roster’s depth, continuity and experience from top to bottom. Boasting over 81% of their minutes from last season with six seniors in the rotation, the Bulldogs are No. 12 in the nation in minutes continuity and No. 19 in total Division-I experience, per KenPom. Their togetherness has stood out from some of their nonconference opponents who spent all offseason rebuilding their rosters through the transfer portal, but how a team looks in November can, and will, change within weeks.

If the Zags can sustain their level of focus on the defensive end, their national title aspirations would be legitimized, according to history at least. Since the 1997 NCAA Tournament, every team to win the national championship has ranked inside the top 20 in defensive efficiency. The one champion that came the closest to snapping that trend was the 2009-10 North Carolina Tar Heels, who checked in at No. 18 in that category. 

The Zags have finished a season ranked inside the top 20 in defense on KenPom seven times in the Mark Few era (since 1999). Of those instances, only once did they fail to get past the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Both trips to the Final Four were back by top 10 defenses in fact, Few’s Elite Eight teams in 2015 and 2019 were top 20-caliber on that end of the floor. 

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