Gonzaga's Mark Few on 'fearless' Washington State: 'They really frustrate some of the teams that they play'

The Bulldogs host the Cougars in a pivotal WCC matchup at the Kennel

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

More than just regional bragging rights will be on the line Saturday when Gonzaga and Washington State meet on the hardwood for the first time in nearly a decade.

The Bulldogs and Cougars have gone head-to-head 150 times, as their respective campuses sit just 78 miles apart from each other. Home-and-home series were common in the early 2000s and into the 2010s, though the rivalry was put on hold after the 2015-16 campaign.

Now meeting for the first time as West Coast Conference competitors, the 151st installment of Zags-Cougs has a bit of a different feel than the previous nonconference matchups at the Kennel or the Palouse.

The Bulldogs (13-4, 4-0 WCC) are coming off a 93-80 win over San Diego, while WSU (13-4, 3-1 WCC) looks for its eighth win in its last 10 games. Only one other WCC team hasn't lost through its first four league games (Saint Mary's), which means Saturday's tilt in Spokane will certainly have an impact on the race for the No. 1 spot in the standings and the conference tournament.

"We've been wanting a game like this in the Kennel for a while," senior forward Ben Gregg said after the Toreros game. "Both schools are having a great start to the season so far, undefeated in conference play. It's gonna be a hard-fought game."

The Bulldogs were expected to be in this position as the preseason favorite to win the WCC according to the league's coaches poll. Meanwhile, the Cougars, who earned just two more points in the poll than Loyola Marymount did for No. 6, have been a bit of a surprise in David Riley's first year at the helm. Especially after losing their leading scorer, Cedric Coward (17.7 points per game in six contests) for the season back in December, as well as dealing with injuries to Isaiah Watts (hand) and Rihards Vavers (both hands).

Despite missing over 20 points per game in the lineup, WSU strengthened its NCAA Tournament resume with notable victories over Nevada, Boise State and San Francisco. The Cougars have five wins in the first two quadrants and went into Thursday's matchup against Pacific ranked inside the top 70 of the NET Rankings. That resume had them on the 10-seed line in CBS Sports' latest NCAA Tournament bracketology from Jerry Palm.

The margin for error has gotten thinner for WSU, however, after suffering a tough 95-94 loss to the Tigers at Beasley Coliseum. The Cougars battled back from down a dozen in the first half to force overtime off a putback dunk from LeJuan Watts, though they couldn't contain Lamar Washington on the other end of the floor, as the Tigers guard scored a career-high 40 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer. That snapped a 20-game losing streak in WCC play for Pacific, which ranked No. 310 in the NET heading into the matchup.

WSU, consequently, dropped to No. 75 in the NET. Fortunately for the Cougs, they'll have plenty of opportunities to climb back up the rankings as they progress through league play — starting with Saturday's matchup in Spokane.

"He's done an amazing, amazing job," Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said of Riley. "They're kind of fearless. They're very, very physical, they're smart, they play like a really old team, and they look like they've played together a long time. So he's done a good job putting them in a system where that kind of accentuates that. It looks like from watching them, they really frustrate some of the teams that they play."

Few didn't recall any specific moments that stood out from previous matchups with WSU over the years, though the Bulldogs will certainly have chances to acquaint with the Cougars over the coming years as both WCC foes and future Pac-12 rivals.

"It's kind of different to having a preseason game where you just play it once and it's whatever," Gregg said. "But I can't wait to have a little rivalry spark up, and it's gonna be fun for a lot of years to come."

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