#19/19 Gonzaga (4-0) vs. Southern Utah (1-3)
MONDAY, NOV. 17 | 6 P.M. PT | SPOKANE | McCARTHEY ATHLETIC CENTER
TELEVISION: KHQ/ESPN+
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE RADIO | LIVE STATS
 
THE OPENING TIP
- Gonzaga returns home to host Southern Utah in the McCarthey Athletic Center Monday at 6 p.m. The Zags have won two of the three previous meetings, with the latest in 2012, 103-65.
- The Bulldogs are coming off a 77-65 win at Arizona State Friday. In GU's first road game of the season, Graham Ike led all scorers with 20 points, while grabbing nine rebounds. Tyon Grant-Foster added 14 points and 12 rebounds. Braeden Smith dished out nine assists to one turnover. The Sun Devils were held to 36 percent shooting from the field, including 33 percent from behind-the-arc.
- Gonzaga ranks third in KenPom's metric rankings, with its defense fourth in the nation and offense ninth.
- The Zags currently lead the West Coast Conference in field goal percentage defense (34.4), three-point field goal percentage defense (25.5), and defensive rebounds per game (32.25).
- Graham Ike eclipsed the 2,000-point mark in his career in the win over Creighton. He needed nine points to reach the mark and finished with 20. He sits at 2,031. Ike ranks second among active scorers in NCAA Div. 1, Indiana's Tucker DeVries is first at 2,043. Ike's 936 rebounds also ranks second among active players. He is the only active player with 1,500 points and 900 rebounds in a career. Ike was named preseason All-American by CBS Sports and ESPN, and to the NABC and Naismith Player of the Year and Malone Award watch lists.
- Ike is one of five players in the nation with nine double-doubles already this season. He was one rebound shy of being the first Zag to record a double-double in the first four games of the season under Mark Few.
- Gonzaga opens the season 4-0 for the second straight season, after opening last season at 5-0. The Bulldogs also start their schedule 4-0 for the seventh time in the last 10 seasons.
 
SCOUTING THE THUNDERBIRDS
- In its last game, Southern Utah fell at Omaha Saturday, 90-85. Zach Bell and Elijah Duval both scored 20 points for SUU, while Jaiden Feroah added 16 points and nine rebounds. Davis dished out five assists. Cale Barclay and Isaiah Cottrell had with 11 and 10 points. The game featured 14 lead changes and nine ties.
- Feroah averages team-highs of 14 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Duval is at 13.5 points per outing with a team-best five assists per game. Bell chips in 10.5 points per outing.
- SUU was picked to finish last in the WAC Preseason Coaches Poll, but there is room for improvement with their essentially all-new team.
- The Thunderbirds have a reloaded transfer roster – Isaiah Cottrell from UNLV, Dylan Jones from Fairleigh Dickson, Jaiden Feroah from Holy Cross, Zach Bell from Jacksonville, Jalen Lee from Long Island, and Tanner Hayhurst from the College of Southern Idaho (and BYU before that).
 
SERIES INFO
- GU has won two of the three all-time meetings against the Thunderbirds, including the most recent in the 2012-13 season-opener, where the Zags prevailed with a 38-point victory margin (103-65).
- The first-ever matchup was a win for Gonzaga in 1995 (77-60), but the Thunderbirds won the next matchup in 1996 (47-71).
 
UP NEXT
- In a battle of Top-20 ranked teams, Gonzaga and Alabama faceoff in the Players Era Championship in the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas Monday at 6:30 p.m.
- The two national powers have met only twice, but both meetings have been in the last three years, with each team claiming a win in the other's respective state.
- Their first meeting took place on Dec. 4, 2021, in front of a packed crowd at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. No. 16 Alabama earned a 91–82 victory over third-ranked Gonzaga.
- The Zags responded the following season in a high-scoring affair on Dec. 17, 2022, in Birmingham. Ninth-ranked GU upset No. 4 Alabama 100–90.
 
EXPERIENCE IS KEY
- While the Bulldogs only return 36 percent of their scoring from last season, along with 34 percent of their rebounding, the current roster features four 1,000-point career scorers and two more at 854 and 765.
- Eight Zags have played at least 65 games in their careers, with seven averaging at least 20 minutes.
- KenPom metrics ranks the Bulldogs' lineup second in the nation in experience. KenPom's "experience" statistic measures average number of full DI seasons played, weighted by minutes played. GU is at 2.88, while Indiana leads at 3.03.
- The average age of Gonzaga's roster, featuring 12 scholarship players and four walk-ons, is 21.2 years old. The Brooklyn Nets, by comparison, are the NBA's youngest team at 23.3 years old.
- GU's roster features the 2022-23 Mountain West Conference Preseason Player of the Year, the 2022-23 Big Sky Conference Player of the Year, the 2023-24 WAC Player of the Year, and the 2023-24 Patriot League Player of the Year.