BYU Basketball: The blueprint for another upset against Gonzaga

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LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 06: Gonzaga Bulldogs mascot Spike the Bulldog performs during the championship game of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament between the Bulldogs and the Brigham Young Cougars at the Orleans Arena on March 6, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Bulldogs won 74-54. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

Gonzaga invades the Marriott Center on Thursday night as the No. 4 team in the nation. BYU Basketball needs to play nearly perfect for the upset.

February 28, 2015.

February 25, 2017.

January 31, 2019?

BYU Basketball has toppled Gonzaga twice when they were ranked in the Top 5, including a monumental win over the No. 1 Bulldogs in 2017. They’ll get another shot on Thursday night when they welcome the No. 4 Zags to the Marriott Center.

That won’t be a simple task by any stretch. This Gonzaga team is arguably better than any of those past teams that BYU beat. Yes, even better than that 2016-17 team that made it to the national championship game.

Gonzaga enters Thursday night’s matchup on a 10-game winning streak, and all ten of those wins were by double-digits.

The Bulldogs boast arguably the best offense in the nation, and their defense is above-average as well. The Cougars won’t likely slow down Gonzaga very much, so they’ll have to outscore them.

Here’s what BYU has to do to pull off another upset over the Zags:

1 – No Open Looks

Let’s look at where Gonzaga ranks nationally in more than a few offensive categories:

1st – Scoring Offense
1st – Field Goal Percentage
1st – Scoring Margin
2nd – Assist to Turnover Ratio
5th – Assists per Game
21st – Free Throw Percentage

They’re no slouches from the three-point line either. Their 36.6% shooting from distance sits in the Top 100 as well.

The Bulldogs are one of the most complete, balanced, and efficient offenses in the nation. Maybe the best.

Which means that BYU can’t let them get easy baskets. The Cougars played their best defensive game of the season in their win over St. Mary’s last Thursday, holding another Top 25 offensive team well below their averages.

The simple fact is, the Cougar defense isn’t good enough to completely shut down Gonzaga, but if the defense breaks down and the Zags get easy baskets this game won’t even be close.

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