Georgia coach Mike White on Bulldogs’ awful start: ‘Didn’t see that coming’

“Gonzaga is really good — perhaps under-seeded. They’re terrific offensively.”

Indeed, a glance at the scouting report would indicate White had the right game plan coming in.

Georgia actually outscored Gonzaga in the paint — 32-28 — despite the Zags entering the game leading the nation with 43.1 points per game in close.

The Bulldogs also harassed Ryan Nembhard — an electrifying point guard averaging a national-best 9.8 assists per game with a 4.28-to-1 assist to turnover ratio — into tying his season-high with five turnovers while scoring just three points.

“We talk about scouting all the time,” White said. “If this happens, it’s on us, right?”

“This” was Gonzaga hitting 12 of 20 shots from beyond the 3-point arc on the heels of its 1-of-15 shooting performance from deep in its most recent outing in the West Coast Conference tourney title game against Saint Mary’s.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Even Few was impressed with his team’s uncharacteristic marksmanship, having seen only one of his previous Gonzaga teams make more treys in an NCAA tourney game — 14 in 2021, from a No. 1-seeded version of Zags.

“I wish we’d shoot it like that every night,” Few quipped, “we probably wouldn’t lose a game.”

Georgia has battled back from opponents’ runs all season, especially down the stretch, winning four of its five games entering the Gonzaga matchup, including an 88-83 win over No. 1 seed and SEC Tournament champion Florida.

“We had a couple of stops there where I thought we had some numbers (in transition opportunities),” White said. “I guess I thought on a couple of those possessions, one or two, we might have got a score to settle us in a bit.”

Still, White said, in hindsight he should have called his first timeout before the score grew to 27-3 — even though there were two stoppages for media timeouts by that point in the game.

If fans want to blame White for Gonzaga’s strong opening performance, the Georgia head coach made clear he was comfortable with that.

“We’ve got a group that’s incredibly bought in,” White said, referring to his team following the game plan. “We wanted to protect the paint — their efficiency in the paint, their two-point percentage, their two-point prowess is off the charts.”

Again, White’s Georgia team followed another part of the script — to limit Gonzaga at the free-throw line, as its 80.1% ranks third in the nation — and keep the Bulldogs out of foul trouble.

Georgia actually made more free throws than Gonzaga — making 21 of 29 to the Zags 11 of 15 — and essentially matched their 73.3% from the line.

At that, none of the Bulldogs had more than three personal fouls, either — another key to winning.

White has coached enough basketball to know that there will be outlier games and statistical anomalies.

Georgia, essentially, took away what Gonzaga does best only to see this talented Zags’ team find different ways to prevail.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

That said, the Bulldogs didn’t shoot the ball well enough to win on the big stage that is The Big Dance, opening the game 1-of-11 shooting with seven turnovers in falling behind 27-3.

“A couple of empty possessions early,” White said, “Complemented by their urgency in transition offense, complemented by a couple of shots that were pretty well-guarded that go down.

“All of a sudden, you find yourself down double digits without having scored a point — those empty possessions early.”

To that point, Asa Newell didn’t get a shot off until it was 13-0, the Zags working hard to deny the Bulldogs’ star player the ball.

White, understandably, wanted to focus more on how Georgia played Gonzaga even in the second half, 41-41.

“We’d dug ourselves a big hole,” White said, “but in the second half, I thought we played more to our identity. I thought we played a lot better in the second 20.”

A long offseason awaits, but team captain Silas Demary Jr. made it clear the Bulldogs will be ready to go back to work, aiming for back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.

“Obviously it was tough when we lost today, but learn from it and then when guys come in next year, the next recruiting class and the freshmen that come in, be serious from the jump,” Demary Jr. said. “June 1, we’ve got to be locked in. Our main goal is March Madness.”