Gonzaga's guard scores points in their win over UCLA

Gonzaga's bigs led the way, as usual. GU's point guards went their own way in the face of UCLA's defense, zone, trap, press and "a lot of pressure," Zags coach Mark Few said in postgame remarks.

Gonzaga's guards see a win over ucla

SEATTLE — As usual, Gonzaga's seniors led the way.

GU's guards led the way, dealing with UCLA's defense, zones, traps, pressures and "a lot of pressure," as Zags coach Mark Few said during his postgame remarks.

Special starter Mario Saio Saio Saio Smith Smith isn't putting up regular assist numbers, but the Zags' offense is limited.

And Saint-Superery and Smith couldn't have taken a better time to score the big basket, especially in the second half when the Zags overturned the deficit to win 82-72 before having fun in the weather.

“There was a lot of pressure,” Few said, “especially because our wings weren’t doing a very good job of opening themselves up and opening up.So these guys had a lot of responsibility and just warmth.They handled it well, they handled the pressure well and they had buckets at the right times.”

For example, Smith's only field goal was a 3-pointer that gave Gonzaga a 62-60 lead with 10 minutes, 37 seconds left.The margin grew to six points before UCLA responded with four points.

Graham Ike made 1 of 2 free throws and Saint-Superior followed with a clutch 3-pointer as the Jags rattled off eight points to build a 74-64 lead.

"UCLA was working on pressuring us and switching defenses, going to the half lane and then going man-to-man," some said. "These guys just had to make plays. It's not something you can celebrate from the bench. They did a great job of playing proper basketball."

And avoid the bad ones.Gonzaga finished with just eight points and connected on 50% of his shots.After shooting early, the Zags found their way on three-pointers, finishing 6 of 16 (37.5%).

In 40 minutes, the defense committed one turnover and scored 15 points.Gonzaga was a plus-12 in Smith's 13 minutes on the court.

"Our problem is that we can't move with complaints, we're playing games," said the person responsible for the dirty, talking about the dirt 40 feet from the ring-superhouses.

"We struggle at times," Cronin added. "Tyler wants to get the ball. They're 6-5. They had (Jalen) Worley on him (he's listed as 6-7). We're not playing smart at times. They're getting the ball."

In fact, Ike and Braden Huff combined for 46 points, and a big reason for that was Saint-Supery and Smith's ability to lead the offense through turmoil.

"It's all very important and useful," said a few."Our guys did a great job with it."