After a 28-day hiatus between home games, Wednesday night’s 102-72 victory over Nicholls at the McCarthey Athletic Center was a much-needed bounce-back game for a Gonzaga men’s basketball team that was coming off back-to-back losses in tough fashion.

For the first time in almost a month, the Bulldogs (8-3) were back in the comforts of the Kennel, unburdened by the pressure that comes with playing against a high-profile opponent in a big-time venue.

“I think we’re just getting so ahead of ourselves with these big games and big environments and coming out with the ‘W’ and stuff,” senior forward Ben Gregg said after the game. “I think a lot of guys get down themselves and they’re not as confident individually and then as a team.”

The Zags came out of the gate against the Colonels in a similar manner in which they opened against UConn: lethargic, as Mark Few put it simply afterward. Scoring droughts, whether in the first half or down the stretch of regulation, have been a common thread in each of the last three games. That along with poorly-timed miscues on the defensive end of the floor.

In an alternate reality, the Bulldogs know their three losses could’ve played out much differently. They had a 5-point lead in the final 25 seconds against West Virginia, an 18-point lead early in the second half against Kentucky and had all the momentum after overcoming a double-digit deficit against a banged-up UConn squad.

“[We’re] a couple possessions away from being able to be undefeated,” Gonzaga assistant coach Brian Michaelson said. “But we also can’t be satisfied on another end and say, ‘Oh, we’re really close to being undefeated.’ We got to get better in a lot of facets.”