By Nov. 8—It could be the first of many reminders from Mark Few this season. Even Gonzaga can be vulnerable against an overmatched opponent when things like defense, rebounding and general effort are lagging.
The 15th-ranked Zags struggled in all three areas during the first half of Saturday's home opener against New Mexico State, but a halftime message from Few kicked the hosts into gear, allowing them to pull away for a 109-68 victory at McCarthey Athletic Center.
"It was the effort and more dictating things instead of kind of sitting back and reacting," Few said. "We talked about being proactive and I thought we were reactive through that first half and even for the first five, six minutes of the second half and we flipped a switch. When we do that, then we've got a chance.
"When it's the other way, we're putting ourselves in position where guys can make shots and make plays and get fouls on us and it's hard to get separation when you're like that."
In today's rewind, we look at the team's impressive assist-to-turnover numbers against New Mexico State, how a former Gonzaga assistant pocketed a signature win on Friday and the walk-on guard who had an eventful college debut Saturday afternoon.
Quick and under control
Gonzaga had varying levels of success distributing the ball in two exhibition games and Monday's season opener, dishing out 13 assists against Arkansas, 23 against NAIA Lewis-Clark State and 15 against Purdue.
It's usually one of two primary statistical columns that dictates whether a team is successful moving the ball. The Zags had been stagnant in the other one, committing exactly 10 turnovers in each of their three previous games.
On Saturday, there was finally some movement in the turnover column — the right kind — for a team that hit on all cylinders offensively while eclipsing 100 points with 4 minutes, 19 seconds to play.
Gonzaga left the Kennel pleased with both numbers, delivering 23 assists while committing only six turnovers against an athletic New Mexico State that pressured the ball and occasionally picked up full court.
The Zags are trying to strike a fine line this season by pushing the tempo while valuing ball security and keeping turnover numbers at a minimum.
"I stressed that all summer and all fall," Few said. "We've had such incredible offensive teams up here, but what kind of doesn't get covered was how well those teams took care of the ball. That's what made the Nembhards so special. They would routinely go 12 assists, one turnover or 10 assists, no turnovers. I think we all started taking it for granted."
There's no Nembhard on this roster, but there is a point guard who hails from the Toronto area and one who, ironically enough, made the same move Andrew Nembhard did by transferring from Florida to Gonzaga.
Fifth-year addition Xaivian Lee has been Gonzaga's starting point guard through the exhibitions and both regular-season games. Lee has impressed despite a short runway to learn Gonzaga's system and personnel after committing in late August. Four days after scoring 18 points against Purdue, Lee put on a passing clinic versus New Mexico State, totaling 10 assists and just one turnover in 28 minutes on the floor.
Lee and sophomore wing Davis Fogle combined for 16 assists with just one turnover. Nobody on Gonzaga's roster had more than one turnover and two starters, Braden Huff and Massamba Diop, didn't account for one.
"Hopefully this team's starting to figure it out because we were a little bit turnover prone early," Few said. "But it's a huge key, to me it's the key to being really efficient. That and shot selection on the offensive end."
Purdue beaters
Few and Roger Powell have remained close since the former assistant left Gonzaga's coaching staff four years ago to become the head coach at Valparaiso and it was almost a certainty the two would touch base at some point this week with a common opponent on their early nonconference schedules.
Four days after Few and Gonzaga squeaked out a 78-72 victory over Purdue in Las Vegas, Powell and Valparaiso visited the Boilermakers at Mackey Arena. Powell phoned Few at some point during the week to discuss strategy and inquire about anything that could help the Beacons in a game they entered as 19 1/2 -point underdogs.
It's unclear to what extent Few's advice helped, but it probably didn't hurt as Valparaiso made one buzzer-beater at the end of the first overtime period and another in the second to claim a victory that could be in the running for the biggest upset of the 2026-27 college basketball season.
"Roger and I talk all the time and obviously we wanted to share stuff with Purdue," Few said. "We were all watching it last night, the team watched it, or at least the last two minutes and the overtime."
Valparaiso guard Rakim Chaney erupted for 35 points and knocked down a game-tying 3-pointer at the end of the first overtime period before fouling out. Backcourt mate Justus McNair delivered the second clutch shot of the night, sinking a buzzer-beating 3 from the left elbow to send Valpo home with the victory.
Few emphasized the importance of signature wins for midmajor teams looking to build momentum and gain respect on a national scale. Gonzaga's coach would know better than most as someone who picked up a handful of those victories early on his Hall of Fame tenure in Spokane.
"When you're at that point with your program, you're making gains, making gains," Few said. "But you need something like that to kind of show everybody you are making gains. He's done a wonderful job there and he's just an incredible human being. Everybody roots for Roger, man. He's the best."
Powell's first Valparaiso team went just 7-25 in 2023-24, but the Beacons improved in the win column each season, going 15-19 in 2024-25 before finally securing a winning record in 2025-26 with an 18-15 finish. Valparaiso improved to 2-0 this season with Friday's victory while Purdue dropped to 0-2 for the first time under 21st-year coach Matt Painter.
Chipped tooth
Even with Gonzaga's lead at 38 points, walk-on guard Alonzo Metz brought hustle and physicality to the final 2 minutes, 21 seconds of Saturday's blowout.
He has a chipped tooth to show for it as well.
Metz subbed in late and elevated for an offensive rebound 35 seconds into his college debut. After securing the board, the 5-foot-11 guard went back up for a jumper, catching an elbow to his mouth as he watched the ball ricochet off the rim.
Metz quickly noticed he'd lost a chunk of his middle tooth, recovered it on the hardwood and chucked it toward Gonzaga's bench. The guard missed one more shot but added another offensive rebound to his personal tally before the final buzzer sounded.
Gonzaga teammates reacted to the sequence during postgame interviews.
"It was pretty cool," Fogle said. "That sucks to happen, but he kept playing. Might look a little funky right now, but he'll be back."
"That fired us up," Braden Huff said. "I mean it sucks, you're in there for two minutes and you lose your tooth but he's a fighter. He got two rebounds in those two minutes and made a bunch of small plays, so excited for him and not necessarily excited for that tooth but he'll be all right."
"Me personally, I love it," Isiah Harwell said. "I love it, I love it."
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/gonzagas-passing-gets-passing-grade-030600212.html
