Quite the opener

Good morning! For those of you who stayed awake for Gonzaga’s rout of Baylor, you watched one of the sport’s elite offenses in midseason form. Let’s break it down, along with what else mattered on Monday’s opening day.

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1. Gonzaga shows out in statement win

College basketball fans waited all day for a Top 10 showdown between No. 6 Gonzaga and No. 8 Baylor, and it did not disappoint.

If you were a Gonzaga fan.

The Zags put on a show during a 101-63 victory Monday night. They dominated the paint (Graham Ike and Braden Huff combined for 29 points on 13-of-22 shots), and were just as good on the perimeter, hitting 13-of-31 from deep (42%). It amounted to 1.44 points per possession, the worst performance by a Scott Drew team since 2005 when it lost 103-60 at Oklahoma. (Yes, that’s a Kelvin Sampson squad.)

If the Baylor defense tried to adjust inside, the Zags moved the ball. If they closed out on shooters, the Zags went by them. It was a clinical, historic performance.

“They just came in and played with great confidence and were very, very assertive," coach Mark Few said afterward. “That’s the beauty of this team with some nice depth.”

At one point, Huff and sophomore Dusty Stromer combined for 17 consecutive first-half points. Even when Baylor made a 16-4 run in the second half that cut the lead to 13 with just over 13 minutes left, Gonzaga responded with a 16-2 run of its own.

Senior guard Nolan Hickman led all scorers with 17 points, while senior guard Ryan Nembhard finished with 11 assists.

It wasn’t all bad for Baylor, though. Freshman VJ Edgecombe delivered the dunk of the night.

We’ll see how much Baylor can adjust after a week of practice. It plays Arkansas in Dallas on Saturday. If it struggled with Gonzaga’s guards, how will it handle the Razorbacks’ three-headed attack of Johnell Davis, DJ Wagner and Boogie Fland?

As for Gonzaga it plays Arizona State on Sunday. The Big 12 better hope for the best.

2. Two Top 25 SEC teams fall, Big East scares + more surprises

The Big 12’s rep as college basketball’s top conference might be pushed this season by the SEC, which boasts as much depth and possibly more NCAA Tournament teams.

But it didn’t have a great Monday.

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