Malachi Smith, No. 6 Gonzaga hope to continue hot shooting against LMU
It’s been an upset-ridden season of college basketball, but Gonzaga has managed to remain mostly unscathed, especially in recent weeks.
The No. 6 Zags (16-3, 5-0 WCC) had a couple of near upsets on their last road trip, with all three victories against unranked programs being decided late in the second half.
After returning home and crushing Portland 115-75 on Saturday, Gonzaga’s 11-game winning streak will be on the line when it hosts LMU (13-7, 3-3) on Thursday at 6 p.m. PST.
The Lions are coming off a 98-84 win over San Diego on Saturday, which saw Cam Shelton score a career-high 28 points and dish out seven assists.
Shelton, a 6-foot-2 graduate student guard, is the fourth-highest scorer in the WCC with 18.5 points per game on 47.9% shooting from the field. He also leads his team with 4.7 assists and 2.1 steals in 35.2 minutes per game.
However, Shelton isn’t the only player who will draw attention from Gonzaga’s defense. Forward Keli Leaupepe is a force at 6-foot-6, 240 pounds, and his frame has made him difficult to stop for opposing teams this season.
“He’s just so big, strong and athletic. Like (Portland’s Tyler) Anderson, he’s just a good basketball player and a tough matchup,” said Gonzaga head coach Mark Few.
Leaupepe is LMU’s second-highest scorer at 14.4 points, while grabbing a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game. He’s also shooting 46.2% on 78 attempts from 3-point range.
There’s a chance that Leaupepe is guarded by Gonzaga forward Anton Watson, who often takes the more challenging frontcourt matchup to alleviate pressure from Drew Timme.
Watson and Timme wreaked havoc against Portland, combining for 30 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The pair were among six Zags to score in double-digits, as Malachi Smith had 27 points, Julian Strawther collected 14, Nolan Hickman added 13 and Ben Gregg registered 12.
Gonzaga was on fire from beyond the arc, nailing 17-of-38 attempts from 3-point range, which included a 7-for-10 showing from Smith.
With LMU sitting No. 2 among WCC teams in attempted 3-pointers per game (26.3), the Zags could use a similar shooting performance on Thursday.
“They’ve really had some nice wins,” Few said. “They’ve been a tough out for pretty much everybody.”
After hosting LMU, Gonzaga will go on the road to face Pacific on Saturday and Portland on Jan. 28.
