What Gonzaga's Mark Few said after win vs. Indiana in Battle 4 Atlantis

The Bulldogs tamed former Zag Oumar Ballo to come away victorious in their second Battle 4 Atlantis game

Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few reacts during the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers at Imperial Arena at the Atlantis resort. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Thursday's top 25 matchup between No. 3 Gonzaga and No. 14 Indiana in the Battle 4 Atlantis was an opportunity for two ranked teams to get back on track following their first letdowns of the season just 24 hours earlier. The Hoosiers were blown out, 89-61, by Louisville in the quarterfinal round. Hours later the Bulldogs were stunned in overtime, 86-78, by West Virginia despite holding a 5-point lead in the final 25 seconds of regulation.

Players and coaches must have a short memory in a tournament that's structured to guarantee three games in as many days, regardless of their final outcomes. A loss probably speeds up that process even more so. It certainly did for the Zags (6-1) as they stormed away with an 89-73 win over the Hoosiers (4-2) to advance to the fifth-place game on Friday at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST.

Five players scored in double-figures for Gonzaga, led by Khalif Battle's 16 points. Michael Ajayi put up 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Nolan Hickman also had 15 and Graham Ike tallied 14 points and seven rebounds. The Zags pulled away in the first half with a 21-2 scoring run after the Hoosiers made it a 1-point game.

Here's what Bulldogs head coach Mark Few had to say after the game.

On what he told his team following the WVU loss:

"There's a lot you say in a 24-hour period like that. We talked about how in a game like the other night, comes down to one or two possessions, we've got to be able to execute, especially on defense. I didn't feel like we played very good 'D' last night. We actually played pretty good D, I mean Indiana can really, really score. But I thought we were more connected today and our guards met last night and discussed, owning it and communicating better and just connecting those areas."

On how Gonzaga's frontcourt fared against Indiana's bigs:

"Our bigs did a good job. That's the first team we played that's kind of like us — likes to throw the ball inside a lot, really ducks in and really puts a lot of foul pressure on you. We were in massive foul trouble in the first half. Got in even more trouble in the second half. But they kept playing. They kept repeating and moving them in and out of there, and they were able to stay in the game."

On preparing for Oumar Ballo and how the Bulldogs adjusted to him in the second half:

"It was hard [preparing for Ballo.] Clearly he's gotten a lot better. He's older, he's gotten himself in great shape. I'm happy for him. That right-handed hook was going tonight but we were OK with that. We just didn't want to give him a whole lot of things between us and the basket. For the most part, we adjusted our ball screen coverage by halfway through the first half, and most part after that adjustment, I think we didn't give him a whole lot of stuff between us and the basket.

MORE GONZAGA NEWS & ANALYSIS

• Gonzaga's Ismaila Diagne suffers sprained MCL

• What Gonzaga's Mark Few said after West Virginia loss in Battle 4 Atlantis

• Gonzaga loses in overtime to West Virginia: 3 takeaways

• Gonzaga's Ryan Nembhard rises to the challenge his senior year: 'It was time for a big jump'

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