Our guys competed hard, they played hard but our execution needs to be better against a team like that.
PROVO — On Monday, No. 1 Gonzaga ascended to the top spot of the national polls and for much of Thursday night’s game against BYU Thursday night, the Zags looked the part.
Gonzaga led from wire-to-wire, built a 19-point first-half lead, staved off a second-half rally and beat the Cougars 85-75 before a crowd of 18,987 at the Marriott Center.
For BYU, it marked the first time ever to host the No. 1 team.
The Cougars got to within six points with 2:02 remaining on a layup by Eric Mika, but it was as close as they would get in the waning moments.