Mark Few expects ‘another great environment’ when Gonzaga faces UConn at Madison Square Garden

Saturday’s college basketball showdown between Gonzaga (7-2) and UConn (7-3) will be Mark Few’s seventh time visiting Madison Square Garden as head coach of the Bulldogs. This time, however, won't be like the previous visits to the Big Apple.

It’s been seven years since the last time Few and company took a trip to New York City, but they used to be more frequent visitors in the previous decade. Adam Morrison’s first points in a Gonzaga uniform came at Madison Square Garden back in 2003 against Saint Joseph’s, which boasted future NBA talents Delonte West, Jameer Nelson and Dwayne Jones in the rotation.

Three years later, the Zags returned to the Big Apple — this time without Morrison — and stunned North Carolina in the NIT Season Tip-Off event, only to fall to Butler, 79-71, in the championship game. Gonzaga came back to the East Coast just a few weeks later to face No. 6 Duke, though came up short in a 61-54 loss. The Blue Devils got the better of the Zags once again in the 2009 Aeropostale Classic.

The Bulldogs headed east a few years later for the 2014 NIT Tip-Off — which they won after beating Georgia, 88-76, and St. John’s, 73-66 — and went toe-to-toe with the eventual national champions when they lost to Villanova, 88-72, in the 2017 Jimmy V Classic. They’ve played three current Big East schools and two other bluebloods from the ACC at Madison Square Garden, but they’ve yet to experience what it’s like when the Huskies are in town.

UConn has played more games at the “World’s Most Famous Arena” than any other venue aside from its home courts in Connecticut, winning its last six games at the venue between last season’s Big East Tournament and regular season. Needless to say, the Huskies fanbase always shows up to the arena in full force. Few expects plenty of UConn supporters to make the drive up from Storrs, Connecticut, this Saturday as well.

“Obviously going all the way across the country and basically playing a home game for [UConn],” Few said in regard to traveling to play the Huskies in New York, after Gonzaga’s overtime loss to Kentucky at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday. “So it’ll be another great environment like this was, I mean this did feel like a Sweet 16 or Elite Eight game.”

This time a year ago the roles were reversed, as it was UConn making the cross-country trip to Seattle for a matchup with Gonzaga at Climate Pledge Arena. In that game, the Huskies controlled the pace at both ends of the floor to come out victorious, 76-63, behind a 21-point, 8-rebound effort from Donovan Clingan. The Bulldogs went just 23-of-59 (39.0%) from the floor and 2-of-12 (16.7%) from 3-point range in what was one of their worst offensive performances of the 2023-24 campaign.

It wasn’t a shock to see the Portland Trail Blazers spend a lottery pick on UConn’s dominant 7-foot-2, 282-pound big man, following his run to a second straight national championship trophy. How the Huskies have still been able to deter opponents at a high rate without Clingan is the more surprising development. UConn ranks No. 1 in the country in block rate (19.1%) and has allowed its opponents to make 41.9% of their 2-pointers, which is also top 10 in the nation according to KenPom.

In addition to stout defense down low, the Huskies are No. 3 in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 2 in 2-point field goal percentage (62.9%).

“Really, really physical,” Few said of the matchup with UConn. “Especially when they're teeing up and getting after you, that's what they [do], and then great on the glass. They're elite offensively, with all the layered stuff they do … we got our hands full.”

The back-to-back champs haven't quite looked the part through the first 10 games of the season, though Hurley and company seem to be getting on the right track after wins over Baylor and Texas last week. With Big East play on the horizon, each win from now until March will go a long way toward the Huskies' NCAA Tournament resume. That is especially true for Gonzaga, which has one more notable nonleague game against UCLA on Dec. 28 (5 p.m. PT, Fox) before West Coast Conference action tips off Dec. 30 at Pepperdine.

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