Anton Watson talks about Gonzaga's NCAA Tournament showdown with Kansas

Can the Zags slow down Hunter Dickinson?

SALT LAKE CITY - Anton Watson set himself up near the top of the zone press to deflect and steal a pass from Marcus Garrett, before dishing the rock to Joel Ayayi who found Jalen Suggs on an alley-oop for the Gonzaga Bulldogs’ first field goal of the 2020-21 season.

That was the last time the Zags faced the Kansas Jayhawks, which ended in a 102-90 win for the No. 1 team in the country in the Fort Meyers Tip-Off in Florida. Watson had two points and four rebounds in 19 minutes in that victory. Safe to say he’ll be featured much more heavily as a fifth-year senior this time around when the two blue bloods face off in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

Watson discussed the matchup and what he’s seen from the Jayhawks during Gonzaga’s media availability session on Friday:

Watson on the matchup with Kansas:

“I think it’ll be a good matchup. Kansas is a super good team, they had a tough game but we expect the best. They got good players; Hunter, their guards are good so we just got to stay solid and come prepared like we did yesterday.”

On trying to slow down Hunter Dickinson:

“I think just keeping him off the boards and try to frustrate him as much as possible. He sits under the hoop and he’s going to try and get some boards, but just try to limit what he does offensively and just get him out of his comfort zone”

On managing expectations of making the Sweet 16:

“I don’t think we should put that pressure on ourselves. We’ve had a tough season, a lot of ups and downs, and I think if we play how we’ve been playing and stay solid, we’ll be alright. Kansas is a good team, but we want to make the Sweet 16. That’s our goal but there shouldn’t be too much pressure about that.”