Taking a Glimpse at No. 1 Gonzaga
The No. 11 West Virginia Mountaineers (3-0) head to Indianapolis, Indiana, to participate in the Jimmy V Classic and meet the No. 1 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs Wednesday night at 7:00 EST on ESPN.
Gonzaga opened the season with a 102-90 win over the sixth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks and followed it with a 90-67 beatdown over the Auburn Tigers.
The 2020-21 edition of the Gonzaga Bulldogs is not deep, getting most of their minutes from seven players, but the guys that play are talented and efficient, shooting 58.5% from the field.
“They’re good. They’re very, very skilled, and I think that’s been a trait of Gonzaga Basketball for a lot of years. They have a lot of very skilled guys," said West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins. “They pass it extremely well. They shoot it extremely well. They shoot it as well as anybody we’ve played in a long time.”
The Bulldogs are led by forwards Drew Timme (So. 6-10, 235-lb) and Corey Kispert (Sr. 6-7, 220-lb) combine for an average of 50.5 points per game. The best description to describe Kispert is a swiss army knife. He plays off the wing, attacks the basket, can work off the block, and is shooting 43.9% from behind the arc.
Gonzaga head coach Mark Few has been able to pick up some highly sought-after recruits from around the country. Freshman point guard Jalen Suggs has become his latest commit, and he began his collegiate career dropping 24 points versus Kansas and is third on the team in scoring at 18.0 points per game while dishing 7.0 assists and snagging 4.0 rebounds per game.
Rounding out the starting five is sophomore forward Anton Watson (6-8, 225) and junior guard Joel Ayayi (6-5, 180). Ayayi averages 10.0 points per outing and is tied with Drew Timme in leading the team in rebounds at 8.0 per game while Watson 4.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
West Virginia is 0-4 all-time versus the Gonzaga Bulldogs, with the last meeting coming in 2017 in the Sweet 16.
Junior guard Andrew Nembhard (6-5, 193-lb) and redshirt senior guard Aaron Cook (6-1, 180-lb) will get most of the action off the bench.
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