Nov. 27—PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Three time zones away and 3,000 miles from home, a Gonzaga team that hadn’t faced much resistance in its first give games this season finally came across some choppy water in Wednesday’s opener against West Virginia at the Battle 4 Atlantis.
In a contest featuring 14 lead changes, a late scoring flurry from Braden Huff and a clutch 3-pointer from West Virginia’s Tucker DeVries that pushed the game into overtime, the Mountaineers controlled the extra frame and pulled off a dramatic upset, knocking off the third-ranked Zags 86-78 at Imperial Arena.
Huff scored on four consecutive touches down the stretch and Gonzaga had a five-point lead with 25 seconds to play, but a long 3-pointer from DeVries trimmed the advantage to two points and the Bulldogs turned it over on the following possession, allowing DeVries to go back to the free throw line and tie the game up at 81-81.
With 5.9 seconds remaining, Gonzaga’s Khalif Battle lost his handle and turned it over, preventing the Bulldogs from getting a look at the basket during the final possession of regulation.
West Virginia went on to outscore Gonzaga 15-7 during the overtime period, holding the Bulldogs to 2 of 10 from the field and 0 of 4 from the free throw line.
Javon Small had a game-high 31 points for the Mountaineers, making 9 of 18 shots from the field while going 4 of 10 from the 3-point line and 9 of 11 from the free throw line.
Huff scored 19 points to lead the Zags, Battle had 16 and Nolan Hickman added 13 more for Gonzaga. Ryan Nembhard had 12 assists and just one turnover, but GU’s point guard struggled from the field, going 1 of 10.
Gonzaga (5-1) will move into the loser’s bracket at the Battle 4 Atlantis and face No. 14 Indiana (4-1) after the Hoosiers lost 89-61 to Louisville in an earlier game on Wednesday.
BOX SCORE
Dave Boling: Gonzaga taught valuable lesson in accountability during loss to West Virginia
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Such high-profile early-season games are teaching and learning experiences. Buff and polish the good, find and fix the flaws. — Read more
West Virginia puts the brakes on Gonzaga’s transition offense
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Job No. 1 for West Virginia in slowing down Gonzaga’s high-powered offense was, well, slowing down Gonzaga’s high-powered offense. In other words, controlling Gonzaga’s transition game, and that’s what the Mountaineers did in springing an 86-78 overtime victory Wednesday at Imperial Arena. — Read more
No. 3 Gonzaga, No. 14 Indiana square off at Battle 4 Atlantis after upset losses in first round
So the Gonzaga-Indiana matchup that oddsmakers and most college basketball followers thought would happen is happening — just not in the semifinals. The upsets kept coming as No. 3 Gonzaga lost to West Virginia 86-78 in overtime in Wednesday’s second game. — Read more
Buzzer breakdown: West Virginia’s Javon Small torches Gonzaga in second half of upset win
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Three observations from Gonzaga’s 86-78 loss to West Virginia at the Battle 4 Atlantis. — Read more
None
First half
19:40 — GU 0, WV 0: Zags win the tip and can’t find a quality look on the first possession, Ike misses a 3-pointer, and we’re underway at the Battle 4 Atlantis.
15:40 — GU 9, WV 8: Zags take the lead with a string of 3-pointers. Hickman, Ajayi and Battle all hit from outside at the first media timeout.
WV’s Harris broke up an ally oop and was hurt before the timeout.
11:31 — GU 20, WV 16: Hickman hits a 3-pointer and the Zags are hot from outside to start this one, 5-for-8 on 3s.
Hickman leads with eight points, while Ajayi adds five. Hansberry has a game-high 10 points for West Virginia.
7:54 — GU 27, WV 20: Zags go on a 10-0 run, but the Mountaineers stop the bleeding with a steal and dunk from DeVries.
Huff called for a rebounding foul at the U8 media timeout.
3:56 — GU 29, WV 26: Battle turns it over at the U4 media timeout. Zags have gone cold, without a field goal in the last 4:43.
1:49 — GU 37, WV 28: Battle scores eight straight points for the Zags and WV calls a timeout. Zags guard has 14 in the game, shooting 5 of 6 from the field.
Halftime
Gonzaga ride Khalif Battle’s hot hand to lead West Virginia 39-31 at halftime in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament.
Battle has a team-high 14 points, making 5 of 7 shots from the field. Ryan Nembhard facilitating with six assists.
Zags shooting 42% from the field and 6 of 14 on 3-pointers. Mountaineers shooting 30% and have hit 6 of 18 3s.
Second half
16:17 — GU 43, WV 40: Small hits a 3-pointers to give the Mountaineers a 7-0 run and the Zags call a timeout. WV has a 9-4 advantage in the second half.
14:39 — WV 45, GU 43: Mountaineers now on a 12-0 run and have taken the lead at the U16 media timeout. WV is 6 of 9 from the field in the half, while the Zags are 2 of 7.
11:44 — WV 50, GU 49: Battle puts back a dunk to pull the Zags back within one at the U12 media timeout. Battle has a team-high 16 points.
Mountaineers have hit seven of their last nine shots.
7:22 — WV 58, GU 56: Zags draw up a nice play to get a 3-pointer for Hickman. Mountaineers keeping the lead, but GU has the ball on the other side of the U8 media timeout.
5:31 — GU 59, WV 58: Zags finally able to take the lead back on a layup from Huff. WV on a 2:30 scoring drought.
3:19 — WV 62, GU 61: Mountaineers retake the lead after a 3-pointer from Small and a layup form Harris. Gregg is fouled at the U4 media timeout and will shoot two free throws when play resumes.
Small has been outstanding for WV. He has 24 points on 7 of 12 shooting from the field.
1:44 — GU 67, WV 64: Zags go to Huff on back-to-back possessions and he makes two left hooks to put the Zags back ahead. WV calls a timeout.
Huff has 15 points, supplying the spark in the second half.
0:20 — GU 71, WV 69: DeVries hits a 3-pointer and the Mountaineers call timeout. Zags have the upper hand, but this one’s going to get dragged out.
0:05 — GU 71, WV 71: DeVries strips Hickman near midcourt and is fouled. He makes both shots and the Zags call timeout to try and draw up a winning shot.
0:00 — GU 71, WV 71: Battle can’t put up a shot going hard to the basket and we’ll head to overtime.
Overtime
0:35 — WV 81, GU 76: Mountaineers take advantage at the free throw line with six points at the stripe in the extra period. Zags can’t convert on offensive end.
Starting 5
Gonzaga going with the same starters: Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, Khalif Battle, Michael Ajayi, Graham Ike.
WVU starters: Javon Small, Toby Okani, Tucker DeVries, Amani Hansberry, Sencire Harris.
Pregame
Let the Battle commence.
No. 3 Gonzaga is in Paradise Island, Bahamas, to take part in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament this week. The Zags open today against West Virginia at 11:30 a.m. on ESPN.
The winner of today’s game will advance to face Louisville in the semifinals. The Cardinals dispatched Indiana in the early game.
The Zags have wins over two Big 12 teams already this season, West Virginia could be the third. The Mountaineers (3-1) have wins over Iona, UMass and Robert Morris and lost to Pittsburgh.
Game preview
Starting with West Virginia, Gonzaga looks to continue run of success against Big 12 at Battle 4 Atlantis
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Darian DeVries has faint memories of his last encounter with Gonzaga. — Read more
Key matchup: Seasoned West Virginia guard Javon Small brings 3-point shooting, offensive intuition into matchup with Gonzaga
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — West Virginia’s team plane didn’t land in the Bahamas until Monday evening, but senior guard Javon Small had already crossed paths with a handful of familiar faces strolling around the Atlantis resort by the time he joined Mountaineers coach Darian DeVries and teammate Tucker DeVries for a news conference Tuesday afternoon. — Read more
More on the Zags
Dave Boling: Buoyed by eight players with ‘a very particular set of skills,’ Gonzaga has taken versatility to new heights
This season, the Zags have a roster loaded with diverse and specific skills, who might come down the floor in any game and give the opponent nightmares. — Read more
Former Gonzaga big Oumar Ballo talks transfer decisions, NIL and thief breaking into his car
It’s old home week for former Gonzaga big man Oumar Ballo at the Battle 4 Atlantis. Ballo played one season at Gonzaga, blossomed into an All-Pac-12 player in three years at Arizona with former Zags’ assistant Tommy Lloyd and he’s currently four games into his last collegiate season at Indiana. As luck would have it, No. 14 Indiana lines up against Louisville on Wednesday with a date against No. 3 Gonzaga or West Virginia on Thursday. Arizona is a potential matchup for Gonzaga or Indiana on Friday. — Read more
‘A mirror image’: Like brother before him, Gonzaga’s Ryan Nembhard on short list of nation’s top point guards
Claude Nembhard was on the phone recently with youngest son Ryan at the same time older son Andrew was chatting with mom Mary — a fairly regular occurrence for the family. “Andrew said he was just about to watch Ryan’s film,” the proud father said. “Ryan couldn’t have a better role model because Andrew has done this stuff at every level. When I watch them play, it’s like a mirror image.” — Read more
Will third time be the charm for Gonzaga at the Battle 4 Atlantis?
Gonzaga, under coach Mark Few, has won three-game holiday tournaments twice in Maui and three times in Orlando. The Zags have claimed two-game tourney titles in New York City, Ft. Myers (Florida), Las Vegas and Washington, D.C. But they haven’t won a championship in an oversized ballroom in The Bahamas. The Zags have had two shots in the Battle 4 Atlantis, coming away with 2-1 records in 2015 (third place) and 2019 (second place) at Imperial Arena. — Read more
