What Gonzaga’s Mark Few said after loss vs. Oregon State

Putting the ball in the basket didn’t seem to be a problem for Gonzaga during Thursday night’s battle with Oregon State in Corvallis, Oregon.

The issue for the Bulldogs (14-5, 5-1 WCC), however, was on the other end of the floor. Led by 29 points from Michael Rataj and 20 from Nate Kingz, the Beavers (14-4, 4-2 WCC) made 58.5% of their field goal attempts to outlast the Zags in a 97-89 overtime final from Gill Coliseum.

“[Oregon State] made shots and [isolated] guys and posted us,” Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said of the Beavers’ attack strategy after the game. “And when we did guard them well, they hit some tough shots [and] some tough pull-ups.”

Here’s more from Few after the loss.

On Gonzaga’s struggles defensively against Oregon State:

“We played really, really good offense. We just could not get consistent stops for longer stretches. Came out in the second half with more intensity on the defensive end. [The Beavers] were still able to get some tough shots. I mean they had some real backbreakers, the bank 3 and contested 3. Even when we did play good defense, they were able to knock in some really tough shots. You almost have to play perfect on offense when you’re playing defense like that.”

On Graham Ike’s big night:

“He was great. Graham was terrific. He delivered time and time again in a high-level game against a very good, physical, big postman. You know, you also got a guard at the other end too. So again, our offense wasn’t the problem — our defense was at pretty much all five spots.”

On the positives the Bulldogs can take from the loss:

“We competed, great environment, fought, dug our way back in after our slow start; played some good ball there in the middle of the second half. We just had a couple of possessions, I think we missed a lay-up on one of those; and then again, just not even some of the stops, we foul a lot off the ball. We fouled on the ball. They were able to get critical free throws when they were in the bonus, and you just can’t do that.”

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