Gonzaga looks to keep rolling Monday night vs. Southern Utah

Mark Few's team has a week off after Monday's tilt with the Thunderbirds

Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few. | Photo by Erik Smith

Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs are 4-0 on the season, coming off an ugly, hard-fought win over the Arizona State Sun Devils in Tempe on Friday evening.

Gonzaga's 4-0 start is made more impressive by the quality of opponents they have played so far: with matchups against teams in the SEC, Big East, and Big 12 in Oklahoma, Creighton, and Arizona State.

Monday's tilt against Southern Utah is one of three remaining buy games for Gonzaga in the non-conference slate, alongside North Florida and Campbell. It represents a chance for Gonzaga to tune things up heading into a weeklong break and then three games in a row in Las Vegas as part of the Player's Era Festival, which tips off for Gonzaga at 6:30 PM PT against No. 8 Alabama on Monday, Nov. 24.

While the Thunderbirds are not expected to put up the same fight as the power conference opponents Gonzaga has dealt with in three of their first four games, it is still a valuable opportunity for Gonzaga to work on a few things before the meat of the schedule gets underway in late November and early December.

Meet the Thunderbirds

Southern Utah began the season ranked No. 269 at KenPom, but has fallen to No. 302 after a 1-3 start to the year - with the lone victory coming against a non-DI opponent in Bethesda. The Thunderbirds opened with a 17-point loss in Tempe to Arizona State, followed by a 23-point drubbing at home to UT Rio Grande Valley, and most recently a five-point road loss to Omaha on Saturday.

SUU's issues have mostly been on the defensive end of the floor, where they surrendered 81, 95, and 90 points to DI opponents while allowing them to shoot 49.6% on twos and an astonishing 50% from the three-point line. ASU shot 9-23 (39.1%) from three, while UTRGV shot 16-28 (57.1%) and Omaha shot 10-19 (52.6%).

Dec 5, 2023; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Southern Utah Thunderbirds head coach Rob Jeter reacts to a play against the Utah Utes during the second half at Jon M. Huntsman Center. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Southern Utah - who was projected to finish last in the WAC preseason poll - is led by 6'8 senior forward Jaiden Feroah, who is averaging 14 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.8 blocks per game. True freshman guard Elijah Duval is averaging 13.5 points, 5.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game, while guard Zach Bell comes off the bench and tacks on 10.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.8 assists.

Gonzaga's goals on Monday

Gonzaga has done nearly everything well so far this season, but the biggest area of concern for the team at this point is outside shooting. The Zags are shooting just 30.4% from three on the year, with players like Steele Venters (26.7%), Tyon Grant-Foster (16.7%), and Braeden Smith (11.1%) getting off to exceptionally slow starts from deep.

A home date with one of the worst three-point defenses in all of college basketball should help the Zags get back on track from beyond the arc, which will be crucial in matchups against Alabama and Maryland in Las Vegas next week.

This game is also an opportunity to get some younger players more experience, namely sophomore center Ismaila Diagne and freshman wing Davis Fogle, who to date have been just on the outside of Gonzaga's nine-man rotation. Both Diagne and Fogle saw the floor against Creighton when the contest was well out of hand, and both should once again get some real run on Monday night against the Thunderbirds.

The game tips off at 6:00 PM on Monday and will be broadcast locally on KHQ and elsewhere on ESPN+.