Knee-jerk reactions are a natural thing in sports. Almost all of us are susceptible to them sometimes. The most common one in college basketball after Gonzaga's season-opening win in which five-star freshman Chet Holmgren produced a historically great stat line was that Drew Timme might not be the best player on his team even though he is the consensus preseason national player of the year.
In passing, half-joking, even I wondered about it.
But by the time the Zags were done with Saturday night's 86-74 victory over Texas in a high-profile matchup of top-five teams, there was little doubt that Mark Few's top player -- not prospect, but player -- remains the same guy who led the national power in both points and rebounds last season. Timme took 19 shots against Chris Beard's Longhorns, made 15 of them and finished with a career-high 37 points and seven rebounds. The 6-foot-10 forward was dominant from start to finish and literally impossible for any single Texas player to handle.
"He played like [the best player in college basketball] tonight," Few said. "He's an off-the-charts competitor."
The most impressive thing about the Zags' 12-point win was how it was completely uncompetitive. They jumped to a double-digit lead barely seven minutes post tip-off and were never threatened after leading by 20 at halftime. The last time the game was in single digits was at the 5:57 mark of the first half.
"I wish we'd played better," Beard said.
Gonzaga tends to make opposing coaches say things like that. Yes, the Zags were undeniably outclassed in the title game of the 2021 NCAA Tournament by a Baylor team that was super-athletic and led by NBA guards. But as Matt Norlander pointed out in Saturday night's column from Spokane, before that beating the Zags played 15 games against power-conference and/or top-75 KenPom teams and won them all by an average of 15.1 points. So what they just did to Texas is what they've been doing to most teams like Texas for years now. This was just a restart of an impressive stretch and reminder of why this West Coast Conference program is once again the betting favorite to win the national championship.
The Zags remain No. 1 in Sunday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. Their next game is Monday against Alcorn State. Their next high-profile contest is scheduled for Nov. 23 against UCLA in Las Vegas.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Drew Timme finished with 37 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 86-74 win over Texas. The Zags' next game is Monday against Alcorn State. | -- | 27-8 |
| 2 |  | Johnny Juzang finished with 25 points and eight rebounds in Friday's 86-77 OT win over Villanova. The Bruins' next game is Monday against Long Beach State. | -- | 16-17 |
| 3 |  | Ochai Agbaji finished with 25 points and six rebounds in Friday's 88-62 win over Tarleton State. The Jayhawks' next game is Thursday against Stony Brook. | 1 | 23-11 |
| 4 |  | Villanova squandered a double-digit lead with less than 10 minutes left in regulation in Friday's 86-77 OT loss at UCLA. The Wildcats' next game is Tuesday against Howard. | 1 | 18-16 |
| 5 |  | Hunter Dickinson finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's 77-48 win over Prairie View A&M. The Wolverines' next game is Tuesday against Seton Hall. | 1 | 8-24 |
| 6 |  | Emoni Bates finished with 15 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 90-51 win over North Carolina Central. The Tigers' next game is Tuesday against Saint Louis. | 1 | 22-10 |
| 7 |  | Paolo Banchero finished with 18 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 67-56 win over Campbell. The Blue Devils' next game is Tuesday against Gardner Webb. | 1 | 27-9 |
| 8 |  | Texas allowed Gonzaga to shoot 54.2% from the field in Saturday's 86-74 loss at The Kennel. The Longhorns' next game is Wednesday against Northern Colorado. | 5 | 21-13 |
| 9 |  | Matthew Mayer finished with 14 points and two assists in Friday's 87-60 win over Incarnate Word. The Bears' next game is Monday against Nichols State. | -- | 24-11 |
| 10 |  | Connor Vanover finished with 19 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 86-69 win over Gardner-Webb. The Razorbacks' next game is Wednesday against Northern Iowa. | -- | 16-17 |
| 11 |  | Jaden Ivey finished with 27 points and eight rebounds in Friday's 92-67 win over Indiana State. The Boilermakers' next game is Tuesday against Wright State. | -- | 34-5 |
| 12 |  | Jahvon Quinerly finished with 26 points and eight assists in Friday's 104-88 win over South Dakota State. The Crimson Tide's next game is Tuesday against South Alabama. | -- | 25-12 |
| 13 |  | Marcus Sasser finished with 26 points and five assists in Friday's 79-46 win over Rice. The Cougars' next game is Tuesday against Virginia. | -- | 32-5 |
| 14 |  | Oscar Tshhiebwe finished with 14 points and 20 rebounds in Friday's 100-60 victory over Robert Morris. The Wildcats' next game is Tuesday against Mount St. Mary's. | -- | 23-10 |
| 15 |  | R.J. Davis made six 3-pointers and finished with 26 points in Friday's 94-87 win over Brown. The Tar Heels' next game is Tuesday at Charleston. | -- | 29-8 |
| 16 |  | Eric Williams Jr. finished with 19 points and five rebounds in Friday's 86-63 win over SMU. The Ducks' next game is Tuesday against BYU. | -- | 24-12 |
| 17 |  | Jacob Grandison went 7-of-10 from the field and finished with 20 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 71-47 victory over Jackson State. The Illini's next game is Friday against Arkansas State. | -- | 29-9 |
| 18 |  | E.J. Liddell finished with 29 points and five rebounds in Friday's 84-74 victory over Niagara. The Buckeyes' next game is Monday against Bowling Green. | -- | 22-14 |
| 19 |  | Malik Osborne finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds in Wednesday's 105-70 win over Penn. The Seminoles' next game is Sunday against Florida. | -- | 17-16 |
| 20 |  | Kennedy Chandler finished 7-of-10 from the field, including 4-of-4 from three, in Tuesday's 90-62 victory over UT Martin. The Vols' next game is Sunday against East Tennessee State. | -- | 27-9 |
| 21 |  | Fatts Russell finished with 22 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 68-57 win over Vermont. The Terrapins' next game is Wednesday against George Mason. | -- | 16-17 |
| 22 |  | Jabari Smith finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds in Friday's 93-65 win over Louisiana Monroe. The Tigers' next game is Friday against USF. | -- | 27-8 |
| 23 |  | Adama Sanogo finished with 20 points and eight rebounds in Saturday's 89-54 win over Coppin State. The Huskies' next game is Wednesday against LIU Brooklyn. | -- | 37-3 |
| 24 |  | Kyle Lofton finished with 17 points, seven assists and seven rebounds in Tuesday's 75-47 victory over Siena. The Bonnies' next game is Sunday against Canisius. | -- | 20-13 |
| 25 |  | Keve Aluma finished with 20 points and six rebounds in Friday's 77-57 victory at Navy. The Hokies' next game is Monday against Radford. | -- | 19-15 |
| 26 |  | Chevez Goodwin finished with 19 points and eight rebounds in Saturday's 76-71 win at Temple. The Trojans' next game is Tuesday at Florida Gulf Coast. | -- | 15-18 |
