MBB Welcomes Utah State Saturday
11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 16, 2017
No. 17/19 Gonzaga (2-0) vs. Utah State (2-1)
SATURDAY, NOV. 18 | 7 P.M. | SPOKANE | MCCARTHEY ATHLETIC CENTER
TV: KHQ/ROOT
RADIO: Gonzaga IMG Radio Network
LIVE VIDEO
TV: KHQ/ROOT
RADIO: Gonzaga IMG Radio Network
LIVE VIDEO
ABOUT THE SERIES:
- This is the sixth all-time meeting between Utah State (Logan) and Gonzaga.
- The Zags won the first meeting, but USU has won the last four matchups.
- Utah State won the last meeting, 80-74, in Logan on Dec. 10, 1970.
- The first meeting was in 1952. GU won 83-72. The teams met twice more in the 1952-53 season, USU won both of those other meetings, 83-64 and 67-65, in back-to-back games.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES:
- After falling at Weber State in its season-opener, 65-59, Utah State has won back-to-back games at home, including an 83-47 win over Mississippi Valley State Wednesday. USU beat Montana State, 81-73, on Nov. 13.
- DeAngelo Isby led the Aggies with 17 points, with three three-pointers. He added five rebounds and three steals.
- Daron Henson chipped in 12 points with a team-high six rebounds off of the bench.
- USU shot 46 percent from the field, including 52 percent in the second half. The Aggies made 13 of their 35 shots from the behind-the-arc. Utah State had 18 assists on its 26 made baskets from the field.
- Isby is averaging a team-high 15.3 points per game, while Koby McEwen is scoring 13.3 points per outing. Sam Merrill has dished out a team-best 12 assists, and Dwayne Brown Jr. is grabbing six rebounds a game.
- McEwen was named Preseason First Team All-Mountain West Conference, after earning Mountain West Freshman of the Year honors last season, leading all freshmen in the league with 14.9 points and 31.3 minutes per game.
- USU, slated eighth in the conference's preseason poll, returns seven letterwinners, including four starters.
- Utah State will play six of its first eight games on the road, including a stretch of five straight from Nov. 18-28.
- The Aggies will be on the road for a total of 13 consecutive days during the five-game stretch with games at Gonzaga, Portland State and Valparaiso, and neutral games against Northeastern and New Hampshire in Nashville, Tenn.
ZAGS READY FOR ELITE TOURNAMENT
- Gonzaga's matchup with Utah State is a non-bracketed game in the elite PK80 Invitational.
- The creation of PK80 -- Phil Knight Invitational, a 16-team, early-season men's college basketball tournament honoring Nike co-founder and 2012 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Phil Knight in advance of his 80th birthday, will take place over Thanksgiving week in Portland, Ore.
- One of the largest regular-season tournaments in college basketball history, sporting a field featuring some of the top schools in the nation, played Nov. 23, Nov. 24 and Nov. 26, in the Moda Center and Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
- Participating schools include Arkansas, Butler, Connecticut, DePaul, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Michigan State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Portland, Portland State, Stanford and Texas.
- Two eight-team events -- consisting of three games per team -- will run simultaneously in the two buildings with the crowning of two bracket champions. All games from Portland will be televised on ESPN networks.
- The Zags open Motion Bracket play against Ohio State in the quarterfinals.
- The other teams in the Motion Bracket include: Butler, Duke, Florida, Portland State, Stanford and Texas. The winner of the Ohio State vs. Gonzaga game will face the winner of the Florida vs. Stanford Nov. 24.
DIALING FROM LONG DISTANCE
- The Zags are 25-of-60 (41.7 percent) from behind-the-arc through the first two games of the season.
- Gonzaga made nine three-pointers in the first half of its season-opening win, before making seven in the first 20 minutes against Howard in the second game of the season.
- Josh Perkins has made nine of his 17 (52.9 percent) shots from three-point range so far this season.
BALANCING ACT
- Six players are averaging double-digit scoring through the first two games of the season, with four players are averaging 11.5 points per game. Josh Perkins leads the team at 14.5 points per outing.
- The top eight scorers on the team are averaging at least 8.5 points per game.
HERE'S AN IMPRESSIVE STREAK (KNOCKS ON WOOD)
- Gonzaga has held 58 consecutive opponents under 50 percent from the field.
- The last time an opponent shot 50 percent against the Bulldogs was Saint Mary's in Moraga on Jan. 21, 2016. The Gaels were 25-of-50 (50 percent) from the field in a 70-67 win.
- GU has held 79 of its last 80 opponents under 50 percent from the field.
- The Zags have finished with a better percentage from the field than their opponents in 46 of the last 47 games.
- North Carolina snapped a streak of 44 straight games in the national championships, the longest streak in the nation at the time, when it was 35.6 percent from the field, compared to Gonzaga's 33.9 percent.
Players Mentioned
Guard
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