Gonzaga heads to Pacific with new road mentality: 'We have to bring it each and every night'
Nothing will come easy for the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the West Coast Conference this season. After years of coasting against the league's bottom feeders, the talent pool has spread from the top on down.
"We have to bring it each and every night or we put ourselves in a position to lose," said Mark Few after the Bulldogs' win over San Francisco on Thursday. "We don't have that big of a talent discrepancy with anybody anymore. We got to bring it and we got to be ready to go on Saturday."
Gonzaga (14-5, 5-1 WCC) will look to build off a pivotal league win over the Dons (15-6, 4-2 WCC) in a game that saw 15 lead changes and eight ties before a 17-4 run in the second half provided just enough momentum to squeak out a 77-72 victory at home. San Francisco didn't bow easily, as Marcus Williams scored 16 points in the final two minutes and eventually turned a 12-point game into a 3-point game with 16 seconds left. Late-game struggles at the free-throw line didn't help the Bulldogs, who were 22-of-34 on the night and missed six foul shots in the last minute and change.
Graham Ike was the difference maker, though, as the 6-foot-9 post was 10-for-11 at the charity stripe and finished with a team-high 22 points. Ike sunk two free throws after Williams made it a 75-72 ballgame with nine seconds left. He also outdueled another talented WCC big man in Jonathan Mogbo, who was held to eight points on six shot attempts.
"That's a fun challenge, that's why you play the game," Ike said. "Just to test where you're at as a team, as an individual and ultimately we got what we wanted from the outcome."
The win moved Gonzaga up to 28th in the NET Rankings and 3-2 in Quad 2 games. The latest ESPN Bracketology has the Bulldogs on the bubble to make the NCAA Tournament, but there's no denying Thursday will prove to be a big game when looking at the final WCC standings at the end of the regular season.
"That's a heck of a team we beat," Few said. "That's a very, very, very good win for us.
A win Saturday against a Tigers squad ranked 358th in the NET won't improve the postseason resume much, but at the same time a letdown would be catastrophic from an at-large bid standpoint.
The Tigers (6-15, 0-6 WCC) return home licking their wounds from a 76-28 beatdown at Saint Mary's, where they shot 20.0% from the field and didn't have a single player score in double figures.
Things haven't been going smoothly in Stockton in year four under Leonard Perry. The offense has gone from 118th in the country in efficiency last season, per KenPom, to 338th in 2023-24. The team has struggled to knock down 3-pointers without Keylan Boone and Jordan Ivy-Curry running the show, as the Tigers shoot 30.7% from downtown after shooting 38.4% last season. The defense isn't much better — 339th in efficiency per KenPom.
Judson Martindale has provided scoring with 10.2 points per game, though no other Tiger averages in double figures. Donovan Williams has come on in league play with 10 or more points in five of his last six games. Moe Odum has been a solid playmaker with 4.7 assists per game, second-most in the WCC, while posting the league's best assist to turnover ratio (2.5).
Gonzaga is set up to build on its three-game winning streak heading into a big week against Loyola Marymount (Tuesday) and Saint Mary's (Saturday) at home.
