#1/2 Gonzaga (1-0) vs. Auburn (1-0)
FRIDAY, NOV. 27 | 8 A.M. | SUNCOAST CREDIT UNION ARENA | FT. MYERS, FLA.
TELEVISION: FOX
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
 
THE TIP OFF
- Gonzaga faces Auburn in the third game of the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off on Friday, at 8 a.m. Pacific Time, in the Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Ft. Myers, Fla.
- The Bulldogs opened the 2020-21 season with an exciting 102-90 win over #6/5 Kansas Thursday.
- GU made 64.5 percent from the field, and had three 20-plus scorers led by Drew Timme's 25 points.
- The Zags are No. 1 in the Associated Press preseason poll entering 2020-21. Its the first-ever No. 1 preseason ranking in program history.
- Coach Few reached 600 wins in his career with Thursday's victory. He tied Roy Williams as the fastest to 600 wins in years coaching (22). Few boasts the best winning percentage among active head coaches at 82.8 percent.
- Corey Kispert joined Gonzaga's 1,000-point club in Thursday's win. He needed nine points to reach the milestone and finished with 23. He is eight made three-pointers from joining the program's Top-10 career makes. He has helped the Zags win 96 of the 106 games he has played in.
- Gonzaga is 39-10 under Mark Few in tournaments during the week of Thanksgiving. The Zags are 28-4 in the last seven Thanksgiving week tournaments.
- The Zags has now won 17 straight regular season-openers dating back to a 73-66 loss to Saint Joseph's in the 2003 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.
- Gonzaga returns two starters and eight letterwinners from last season's squad that claimed the Zags' eighth consecutive West Coast Conference regular season title.
- In 2019-20, the Bulldogs qualified for their 22nd straight NCAA Tournament, before the pandemic ended the season.
- GU brings back 50.1 percent of its scoring, and 52.3 percent of its rebounding from last season.
- Gonzaga won 31 games last season, including 16-0 in WCC play. It was the fourth straight 30-win season, fifth in the last five seasons and sixth in the last eight seasons. GU is the only program in the nation to have reached 30 wins in each of the past four seasons.


SERIES NOTES
- This will be the first-ever meeting between Gonzaga and Auburn.
- The Bulldogs are 15-9 all-time versus current members from the Southeastern Conference.
- GU has won eight of its last 10 meetings with an SEC opponent, including a 79-49 victory in its latest matchup with the league, at Texas A&M last season.
 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
- Auburn opened its season with a 96-91 overtime win over Saint Joseph's Thursday.
- The Tigers outrebounded St. Joe's 56-39. Jaylin Williams scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Four other AU players finished in double-digit scoring as well.
- Auburn has recorded three straight seasons with 25 or more wins under Bruce Pearl, including a 30-win campaign in 2018-19 that saw the Tigers notch their first Final Four appearance in program history.
- Entering his seventh season with Auburn, Pearl returns a young roster and welcomes one of the top recruiting classes in the nation.
- Devan Cambridge, Jamal Johnson and Allen Flanigan each appeared in all 31 games for the Tigers last season, with Cambridge and Johnson leading the team in 3-point shooting percentage.
- Auburn's five-man recruiting class is comprised of highly touted players, including top-100 prospects Sharife Cooper, JT Thor and Justin Powell.