#11/11 Gonzaga (7-1) vs. #18/18 Kentucky (5-3)
FRIDAY, DEC. 5 | 4 P.M. PT | NASHVILLE, TN | BRIDGESTONE ARENA
TELEVISION: ESPN2
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE RADIO | LIVE STATS
 
THE OPENING TIP
- Gonzaga and Kentucky meet in the Music City Madness event at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Friday at 4 p.m. Pacific Time. The series is split at 2-2 all-time.
- Last season in Seattle, the No. 4 Wildcats rallied from an 18-point deficit early in the second half to pickup a 90-89 win in overtime. The No. 7 Zags' Graham Ike led all scorers with 28 points and 11 rebounds. In 2023, the Zags won at No. 17 Kentucky, 89-85. Ike scored a team-high 23 points, while Braden Huff added 12.
- This is the fourth meeting in a series of six games that was announced prior to the 2022 season. GU won the first two matchups, with the Wildcats winning last year in overtime. The programs will meet again in Rupp Arena next season, before finishing the series in the McCarthey Athletic Center in 2027-28.
- The Bulldogs are coming off a loss to No. 3/2 Michigan in the Players Era Championship game. Tyon Grant-Foster and Braden Huff led the Bulldogs with 14 points each.
- The Zags currently lead the West Coast Conference in scoring margin (23.8, 10th in NCAA), scoring offense (90.8, 23rd in NCAA), rebounds (44.63, 8th in NCAA), rebound margin (11.5, 20th), defensive rebounds per game (30.5, 15th in NCAA), assists (19.3, 19th), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.83, 16th), turnover margin (5.5, 16th in NCAA), steals (9.4), turnovers (10.5), and turnovers forced per game (16.0).
- 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 2,079. Ike ranks second among active scorers in NCAA Div. 1, Indiana's Tucker DeVries is first at 2,111. Ike's 958 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, Wooden, and Naismith Player of the Year watch lists.
 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
- Kentucky is coming off of a 67-64 home loss to No. 16 North Carolina Tuesday. The game featured 14 lead changes and nine ties. Otega Oweh led the Wildcats with 16 points, while Collin Chandler and Denzel Aberdeen added 12 and 10. Malachi Moreno finished with eight points and nine rebounds. After shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half, Kentucky finished 43 percent in the game, including 1-of-13 from behind-the-arc. UNC turned 20 offensive rebounds into a 22-5 advantage in second chance points.
- Five Wildcats average double-digit scoring led by Aberdeen's 13.5 points per game. He adds 3.5 assists.
- Oweh adds 13.4 points per outing at 47 percent shooting from the field.
- Moreno grabs a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game, while scoring 10.3 points. He's also blocking 1.38 shots per game, and had three versus North Carolina.
- Oweh was named the SEC Preseason Player of the Year by the league's media, while the team was picked second in the preseason conference poll.
 
SERIES INFO
- Gonzaga and Kentucky meet for the fifth time. The series is split at 2-2 all-time.
- Last season in Seattle, the No. 4 Wildcats rallied from an 18-point deficit early in the second half to pickup a 90-89 win in overtime. The No. 7 Zags' Graham Ike led all scorers with 28 points and 11 rebounds.
- In 2023, the Zags won at No. 17 Kentucky, 89-85.  Graham Ike scored a team-high 23 points, while Braden Huff added 12. Ryan Nembhard dished out nine assists.
- In 2022, No. 2 Gonzaga beat No. 4 Kentucky in Spokane, 88-72. Rasir Bolton scored 24 points, Drew Timme added 22, and Julian Strawther had 20 points and 14 rebounds. Anton Watson had 10 points and 10 rebounds and spent the evening guarding reigning player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe.
- In the first matchup, the Wildcats beat Gonzaga 80-72 in the 2002 Maui Invitational. Kentucky was ranked 15th and the Zags were No. 20. Blake Stepp scored a game-high 24 points with five three-pointers to lead GU.
 
UP NEXT
- Gonzaga returns home for the first time in 19 days to host North Florida Sunday at 6 p.m.
- The Ospreys are 2-5 to start the season, with a pair of victories over non-NCAA Div. 1 opponents.
- UNF is coming off a 72-63 loss at home against SIU Edwardsville Tuesday. Kamrin Oriol and Trey Cady led the Ospreys with 16 points each. Cady made all three of his threes off the bench.
- Kamrin Oriol averages a team-high 17.7 points per game, along with a team-best 4.4 assists per outing. He's made 20 three-pointers at 43.5 percent from behind-the-arc.
- Dalton Gayman is pulling down 4.7 rebounds per game, while adding 9.4 points.
- Kent Jackson scores 13.6 points per contest.
- UNF is replacing five double-digit scorers from last season's 15-win team, but brings back top returning scorer in Oriol (7.3 ppg).
- This will be GU's second-ever matchup with the Ospreys, after picking up a 104-63 win in the McCarthey Athletic Center on Nov. 7, 2022.
 
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 866 and 839.
- Eight Zags have played at least 70 games in their careers, with seven averaging at least 20 minutes.
- KenPom metrics ranks the Bulldogs' lineup fourth in the nation in experience. KenPom's "experience" statistic measures average number of full DI seasons played, weighted by minutes played. GU is at 2.77, while Indiana leads at 3.05.
- 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.
 
ZAGS GOT METRICS
- As of Dec. 3, Gonzaga is highly ranked by several metrics.
               ESPN BPI - 2
               KenPom - 5
               Haslametrics - 8
               EvanMiya - 10
               Bart Torvik - 10
 
AMONG THE BEST
- Since 2018, Gonzaga owns wins over several elite programs including; Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, UCLA, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan State, Arizona, Virginia, Oklahoma, Oregon, Alabama, Syracuse.
- This season, the Zags already have wins over the SEC (twice), Big East, Big 12, and Big Ten.
- Since 2021-22, Gonzaga's 10 wins over ranked foes in regular season non-conference play ranks fourth in the nation behind Purdue (12), Alabama (11), Arizona (11).