MBB Opens December Against Mississippi Valley State
11/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 28, 2016
#8/8 Gonzaga (6-0) vs. Mississippi Valley State (0-8)
THURSDAY, DEC. 1, 2016 | 6 PM | SPOKANE | MCCARTHEY ATHLETIC CENTER
TV BROADCAST INFORMATION
- Gonzaga vs. Mississippi Valley State will be televised in Spokane on both SWX and ROOT Sports due to the NFL's Thursday Night Football on KHQ (Spokane's NBC affiliate).
ABOUT THE SERIES
- This is the second all-time meeting between Gonzaga and Mississippi Valley State.
- The Zags opened the 2009-10 season with a 92-74 home win over MVSU. Matt Bouldin scored a game-high 22 points to lead four Bulldogs in double figures. In his GU debut, Elias Harris scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
- This GU's ninth meeting against a current member from the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
- The Bulldogs are 8-0 all-time versus current SWAC members, with the latest matchup from Texas Southern on Dec. 15, 2014. Gonzaga cruised past TSU in Spokane, 94-54.
ABOUT MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE
- Coming from Itta Bena, Miss., the Delta Devils are looking for their first victory of the season.
- MVSU is currently on a nine-game losing streak, dating back to a loss to Jackson State in the 2016 SWAC Tournament semifinals.
- Mississippi Valley State fell at Indiana Sunday, 85-52.
- Rashaan Surles led the Delta Devils with 14 points, while Isaac Williams added 13.
- The Delta Devils will play their first 14 games, including all of their non-conference contests, away from home.
- MVSU's first home game will be on Jan. 7, against Alabama A&M.
- Eleven of Mississippi Valley State's 16-man roster are upperclassmen, including seven seniors.
- Eight players transferred from another four-year school or junior college.
- Six different players have led the team in scoring through the Delta Devils' first eight games.
- Marcus Romain leads MVSU with an average of 12.7 points per game, but has not played since the third game of the season. Three players average just over eight points per game, led by Isaac Williams' 8.9 points.
- Michael Matlock is the team's leading rebounder at 6.3 per game, while Darrell Riley has a team-high 23 assists.
- The Delta Devils have been outrebounded 354-244 (44.3-30.5 per game) this season.
THE HOT START
- This is just the fifth time since the 1958-59 season that Gonzaga has started the season 6-0.
- The Zags opened 2014-15 winning their first seven games, before falling in overtime, 66-63, at Arizona.
- In fact, two of the four 7-0 starts in program history have been followed by losses to Arizona.
- The 2008-09 GU team suffered a 69-64 setback at the Duel in the Desert in Phoenix.
- Gonzaga faces Arizona in Los Angeles in the Staples Center Saturday.
- In 2012-13, the Bulldogs started the season 9-0 before falling to Illinois.
- Gonzaga began the 1994-95 season by winning its first eight games, before losing at Wichita State in overtime.
WILLIAMS-GOSS NAMED WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- Nigel Williams-Goss was named the AdvoCare Invitational MVP after leading Gonzaga to its third all-time tournament title in the HP Field House. He averaged 13.3 points at 48 percent shooting from the field (14-29) in the tournament.
- The redshirt junior made 7-of-13 shots from behind the arc (53.8%), including a pivotal 6-of-8 from distance in the Zags' championship game win over No. 21 Iowa State Sunday.
- He scored a season-high 18 points in the title game, adding four assists and four rebounds against the Cyclones.
- Williams-Goss averaged five rebounds, five assists and 1.33 steals per game in the tournament and guided the Bulldogs to wins against Quinnipiac, Florida and Iowa State.
ZAGS CLIMB INTO TOP 10
- Gonzaga rose to No. 8 in the Associated Press Top 25 and USA Today Coaches' polls Monday, up three spots from last week's rankings. The Bulldogs grabbed the AdvoCare Invitational title with a win over Iowa State Sunday.
- The Zags receive their highest ranking in the AP poll since finishing the 2014-15 season at No. 7.
- GU opened this season at No. 14 in the preseason poll.
DIALING LONG DISTANCE IN ORLANDO
- The Zags broke the AdvoCare Invitational single game record by making 13 three-pointers in the championship game against Iowa State Sunday.
- Gonzaga connected on 13 of its 25 (52 percent) shots from behind-the-arc in the finals.
- Nigel Williams-Goss made six of his eight shots from three-point range in the game.
- The Bulldogs made 26-of-63 (41.3 percent) from behind-the-perimeter in the tournament.
HEATING UP IN THE SUNSHINE STATE
- Gonzaga shot a blistering 63 percent (37-of-59) from the field over the second half of the AdvoCare Invitational semifinals against Florida and the first half of the finals versus Iowa State.
- The Zags finished 49 percent from the field against Florida and 51 percent versus Florida.
- The record for team field goal percentage in a game is 59.5 percent (35-59) by Michigan State vs. Oklahoma State in 2008.
- The Bulldogs finished the AdvoCare Invitational by making 48 percent of their shots from the field.
JUST FINE FROM THE LINE
- Nigel Williams-Goss has made all but one of his free-throws this season (18-of-19).
- The redshirt junior's 94.7 free-throw percentage tops the West Coast Conference.
- He currently ranks 16th in the country.
J THREE OVER THE LAST FOUR
- Johnathan Williams is really settling into the program after sitting out last season following a transfer from Missouri.
- He has scored 58 points over the past four games, an average of 14.5 per outing.
- The redshirt junior has made 24 of his 30 shots from the field during the four-game stretch.
- He started the season 2-of-12 (16.7 percent) through the first two games.
- Williams was named to the AdvoCare Invitational All-Tournament Team after averaging 12.7 points per game in Orlando.
PERK GOES TO WORK
- Josh Perkins has also totaled 58 points over the past four games, an average of 14.5 per contest.
- He is shooting 55.8 percent (19-of-34) from the field over the last four games.
- The redshirt sophomore has made 11 of his 21 (52.4 percent) shots from three-point range during the same stretch.
- He has dished out 13 assists, an average of 3.25 per game, over the last four outings.
AMONG SOME ELITE COMPANY
- Gonzaga joined five other programs that have won the same regular season tournament three times (min. 3 games).
- The Zags win over Iowa State for the AdvoCare Invitational title marked the third time GU won that tournament, only the ninth time a team has won the same regular season tournament three times (min. 3 games).
- Arizona (Preseason NIT 4x), Duke (Maui Invitational 5x and Preseason NIT 4x), Kansas (Preseason NIT 4x), North Carolina (Great Alaska Shootout 3x), and Syracuse (Preseason NIT 4x and Maui Invitational 3x) are the other programs.
ORLANDO MAGIC
- Gonzaga is now 9-0 all-time in tournaments inside the HP Field House at ESPN's Wide World of Sports, winning the 2008, 2012 and 2016 titles.
- In 2008, the Zags defeated Oklahoma State, Maryland and Tennessee to claim the title.
- Jeremy Pargo was named the tournament MVP.
- The Bulldogs beat Clemson, Oklahoma and Davidson during the 2012 title run.
- Elias Harris was selected as the MVP of that tournament.
GIVING THANKS FOR THESE TOURNAMENTS
- Gonzaga is now 31-8 under Mark Few in tournaments over during the week of Thanksgiving.
- In their last six Thanksgiving tournaments, the Zags are 20-2.
- Under Mark Few, GU has won five tournaments during the week of Thanksgiving, and played
in eight of the 12 tournament championship games.
- The Bulldogs have won Old Spice Classic (AdvoCare Invitational) all three times they have played in it.
SINCE 2011 ...
- Gonzaga is 76-0 when scoring at least 80 points in a game.
- The Zags are 66-0 when holding opponents under 60 points.
- GU has won 130 of the 138 games when it has reached 70 points in a game.
- The Bulldogs have won 34 of their 36 games in the month of November.
- Gonzaga is 139-7 when leading at halftime, and have only trailed 29 times at the break.
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