There were a lot of comments last night about how soft Gonzaga is. Biggest evidence isn’t in the foul complaints, but in their post presence. There were so many lost balls from their big men of strips from our defense. It’s like they hadn’t played a tough post defending team all year, and I wouldn’t even really call us tough most of the time.

Haws no-call wasn’t flagrant. A foul? Probably. There were plenty of missed calls and made up calls all night. Say what you want about the refs, but I thought last night was fine overall. Things were mostly consistent and we got away with as much as we were given.

About our team:

Haws - set the tone from the beginning of the game. His defensive effort in the first 10 minutes was remarkable. He had an amazing game, easily one of the best he’s played. This was the TJ everyone was clamoring about out of high school.
Childs - Not his most dominant game, but probably the best set of bigs he’s played against all year. I doubt any one team can make him play worse than he did tonight, and he had a great game. Only way he has a bad game is if he isn’t hitting his shots. Such a powerful player.
Toolson - such a shooter. His 3s were the difference maker for our offense. Our team is so lethal in the fact that it takes an off night for a lot of guys to take the 3 away, and Jake has a knack for getting his shot to go. I’ll be surprised if he isn’t 1st team with Haws and Childs.
AB - not his night if offense, but his consistent defense has been an unsung asset this season. He is the closest player we have had to Jackson Emery since he left. He one 3 make came at such a needed time and really started to break the game out for us at the end.
Harding - the rising star of this team. He has been a true glue guy for us. He didn’t have a good offensive game this time, but his defense and hustle was much needed and he played bigger than he was.
Seljaas - This guy. What a game from him. Where TJ started the defensive tempo in the first half, Zac finished it in the second. Hard to believe this lanky kid out-muscled just about everyone on the Zags and had some good offensive plays too. When Nixon went down, everyone needed him to fill the role. He did that and then some.
Lee - This was his best defensive game, and when the Zags ignored him on offense he made them pay. The best from him last night was how long he was able to stay in the game despite being in foul trouble. The minutes from him was amazing.
Baxter - he played out of necessity and made the most out of it. Still not 100% comfortable, but he’s progressing. Loved seeing some boards and outbacks from him. His role of cleaning up the glass is sorely needed and he was showing glimpses of that.

Love this team. Go Cougars!