UCLA is on cloud nine after finally defeating Gonzaga in their fifth meeting in as many years. But for the Bulldogs, it’s yet another harsh defeat in a year that has already handed them three of those. It was a tough 65-62 loss, even if head coach Mark Few was impressed by his team’s improvement in physicality. But the fact remained that it was No. 14 Zags’ third Quad 1 loss of the season despite holding late leads. And it’s not a good sign going into WCC play in the next half of the season.

Discussing their woes and how far they might have fallen, Kevin Sweeney says on The Field of 68: After Dark, “It’s hard to call them anything other than disappointing. Like from where they were, from what their ceiling was, from what they brought back from a year ago.” The host does acknowledge that everyone holds Gonzaga to “an impossible standard because it’s title or bust every year somehow for this group.”

At the same time, it’s only because they’ve shown the potential to always be better, certainly more than what they are this year, that they get judged so harshly. “That’s not fair necessarily but to have all four losses be games you could have and maybe should have won at points,” Sweeney says.

Even in this game, top-ranked Gonzaga was struggling offensively; even if it was the same for No. 22 UCLA, they did not slow down at the most crucial moments and their defense was top-notch.

When the Bulldogs were trailing the Bruins 63-60, Ryan Nembhard made a determined effort to score but he missed and with just 13 seconds remaining, UCLA scored one more ‘and one’. It was no buzzer-beater but the Bruins won a hard-fought game.

For Gonzaga, meanwhile, Sweeney continued, “It’s a disappointment because they’re not gonna have a ton of opportunity. Now the WCC is better than it’s been but you’re not going to have a ton of opportunities to build this resume. Like, you’re heading into the NCAA Tournament and you’re best win’s gonna be home/ Baylor and neutral/ Indiana? That’s not appealing.”

Citing only the UConn loss as forgivable and calling their resume ‘soft’, the analyst points out that if they’re aiming for another championship this season, the losses in the non-conference schedule are only going to make it harder. Losing against the Bulldogs is a given for most teams but for this “old and experienced” group, as Sweeney calls them, these losses have been surprising and mostly disappointing.

But Bulldogs star Ryan Nembhard has at least one strategy in mind for his team’s improvement.

“Should have won all of them…”: Ryan Nembhard begs to differ from Mark Few

It was as good as a non-conference schedule gets for Gonzaga, which Mark Few knows better than anyone. And yet, as his team lost another close match-up, all he could say after the game was, “That was a tough call on Emmanuel [Innocenti] … guys did a great job executing, got great looks. We had a good looking 3 — Dusty [Stromer] got a wide-open 3 in the corner and just got to kind of make those plays, make those shots. That’s it, there’s nothing more than that.”

Meanwhile, Bulldogs guard Ryan Nembhard was of a different opinion, “Obviously, we feel like we’ve been in a bunch of close games that we felt like we could—we should—have won all of them. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to close out these games. We’ve got to learn to win these close games.”

Mark Few’s squad is now 9-4 on the season and West Coast Conference play is only going to make it harder. Nevertheless, if the Bulldogs can take it as a learning opportunity and add it to their growth in physicality, maybe the season can be saved just yet.