Just about to wrap up a busy day in Buffalo. A couple of posts tonight: First up, here is my unedited game preview and notebook. Read on for those. Come back in a few minutes for more.

Here's the preview:

By Jim Meehan

jimm@spokesman.com; (208) 765-7131

BUFFALO, N.Y. – With roughly a 39-hour turnaround, the Gonzaga Bulldogs go from facing the nation’s best field-goal percentage defense to tangling with the nation’s top field-goal percentage offense.

Not to mention an opponent with one of the more storied defenses – Syracuse’s active 2-3 zone – in college basketball. Not to mention the NCAA Tournament second-round game will be played at HSBC Arena, roughly 150 miles from the Syracuse campus. Not to mention the Orange, regular-season Big East Conference champions, are the No. 1 seed in the West Region and were ranked No. 1 in the country until suffering a two-game losing streak heading into the NCAAs.

“We’re stepping into probably one of the biggest challenges we’ve ever had since I’ve been the head coach at Gonzaga,” said Mark Few, who compared it to last year’s clash with eventual national champion North Carolina in the Sweet 16.

Eighth-seeded Gonzaga (27-6) knocked off No. 9 Florida State 67-60 on Friday by shooting 50 percent against a Seminoles defense that led the nation in field-goal percentage (37.4). Syracuse’s zone produces similar numbers (No. 32 nationally at 39.9 percent). It’s a 2-3 in name, but the Orange stifle opponents with length and subtle adjustments to counter an opponent’s strengths.

Head coach Jim Boeheim, in his 34^th year at Syracuse, has relied on the defense to earn more than 800 career wins and 43 in the NCAA Tournament, eighth all-time.

“I think if you’re good against a zone, you’re good against a zone,” Boeheim said. “Our zone is a little better than some. I hope it’s a problem for people, but I think any good defense is a problem for people.”

Syracuse’s zone is a little like Mariano Rivera’s cut fastball. You know what’s coming, but that doesn’t make hitting it any easier.

“It looks like a matchup, our man-to-man basically (with) how Kris (Joseph) and Rick (Jackson) will be out on the wings,” forward Wes Johnson said. “How we move and talk in the zone really gets in their (opponents) mind. We’re moving around so much and it’s basically like a man but we cover our areas very well.”

Boeheim wasn’t buying into the notion that the zone plays mind games with foes, but he did allow that zones are somewhat rare these days.

“Georgetown shot 71 percent against us in the second half – I guess it didn’t get into their minds,” he cracked. “Not a lot of people play zone. When I started out coaching in our league, eight out of nine teams played some zone or quite a bit of zone. Today, hardly any teams in our league play zone. It’s a weapon that people don’t see.”

Gonzaga doesn’t want to fall into the trap of launching contested shots from the perimeter.

“It’s so successful because they’re so long and they are really active,” junior guard Steven Gray said. “They take a lot of things away. We can’t be afraid to get the ball inside and we don’t want to settle for outside jump shots. Take them when they’re there, but not settle because that leads to long rebounds and they’re such a good breaking team.”

And that leads to Gonzaga’s other challenge. Syracuse’s 51.7-percent shooting accuracy leads the nation. The Orange thumped No. 16 Vermont 79-56 on Friday, 28 of those points coming in transition and/or off turnovers. In typical Syracuse fashion, five players scored in double figures and Joseph, who replaced Arinze Onuaku (quadriceps) in the starting lineup, added eight points.

The Orange shot 54.5 percent, buried 10 3-pointers and won the boards by 11.

“If we can contain their transition,” Gray said, “our defense in the half-court is solid enough to make things tough for them.”

Johnson, a versatile 6-7 junior forward who was the Big East player of the year, averages a team-high 16 points and 8.4 rebounds. He makes 40 percent of his 3s and 78 percent at the free-throw line.

“He’s exceptional,” Gray said. “We have to be in the gaps and do our best to make things tough for him, knowing we’ll have help behind us if we get beat or he gets by. And then we have to make sure we block out so we can limit their highlight-reel tip-dunks and alley-oops.”

Add it up and fourth-ranked Syracuse is probably the most complete team Gonzaga has faced this season.

“Michigan State was a great transition team, Cincinnati was a great offensive rebounding team,” Gray said. “We’ve faced the things Syracuse is going to throw at us, except maybe that zone, and our coaches have done a good job of simplifying the key concepts of what we need to do.”

Here's the notebook:

By Jim Meehan

jimm@spokesman.com; (208) 765-7131

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim sat at a table in the interview room and painted a bleak picture for injured senior forward Arinze Onuaku.

“He has not practiced,” Boeheim said matter-of-factly. “I never play somebody that hasn’t practiced.”

Onuaku strained his quadriceps in Syracuse’s Big East Conference Tournament loss to Georgetown. He sat out the Orange’s 79-56 win over Vermont on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Gonzaga isn’t convinced that Onuaku will miss today’s contest to see who moves on the Sweet 16. GU players are preparing as if Onuaku will play.

“No,” center Robert Sacre said, when asked if he’d be surprised to see the 6-foot-9, 261-pound Onuaku on the court. “It’s his last year so I wouldn’t blame him if he came out and tried to give it his all.”

Seated nearby, senior guard Matt Bouldin nodded his head in agreement.

Onuaku is an effective scorer as well as a cornerstone in the middle of Syracuse’s zone defense. He’s averaging 10.5 points and 5.1 rebounds. Beyond that, he’s the school’s career leader in field-goal percentage (64.8) and he ranked 11^th in blocked shots (148).

“Losing ‘AO’ is a big hurt to our team,” sophomore guard Scoop Jardine said. “I think Rick (Jackson) and DaShonte (Riley) did a great job playing in there together (Friday). DaShonte did a lot of great things, using his body to get a lot of blocks and some rebounds. Rick has been a force for us all year.”

The Orange is 55-13 when Onuaku scores in double figures. He’s averaged 10 or more points each of the last three seasons.

Catch and release

Boeheim and GU counterpart Mark Few are good friends with several things in common.

Both have raised millions of dollars for cancer research with their respective Coaches vs. Cancer events. Both have stayed put and been highly successful at the schools. Boeheim is in his 48th year (34^th as head coach) at Syracuse and only had one job interview during that time. Few has been at Gonzaga since 1990 and he’s in his 11^th year as head coach.

“I only did it because somebody just said we’re coming to see you,” Boeheim said. “I said, ‘Fine, I don’t want anybody to know about it.’ I’m not going out of my house. I never really thought about leaving.”

Boeheim and Few spent several minutes in a hallway visiting between their time slots in the interview room.

“We do one thing together – fish,” Boeheim said. “He just kills me. In the (golf) handicap world in fishing, I’m about a 22 and he’s about a plus 4. I got no hope of catching him, but he can go fishing out his back door.”

Goodson ready to go

Bulldogs sophomore point guard Demetri Goodson said his left shoulder is “still kind of tender,” but he plans on playing. Goodson came out of Friday’s game briefly to have his shoulder examined by trainer Jen Nyland.

“It’s the top part of the bone,” said Goodson, pointing to the sore spot. “It was the first play of the game. I was chasing a dude off a screen and I got hit by three screens in the same spot. The last one killed me. It’s been hurting since then.”

Goodson had nine points, five rebounds and two assists in 34 minutes Friday.

Handing it to his team

Few has been known to do hand-stands in the locker room after big wins. Friday’s 67-60 victory over Florida State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament qualified.

“That’s one of his go-to (moves), I guess you could say, after a big win,” junior guard Steven Gray said. “And like he said, ‘Anytime you get a win in the NCAA Tournament, it’s a big deal.’ He came in the locker room, sore back and all, and busted out a handstand.”

Notes

Hawaii announced the hiring of Gib Arnold as head coach. Gonzaga assistant coach Ray Giacoletti had a telephone interview with the school earlier this week. Giacoletti’s name has also been mentioned at Toledo. … Gonzaga is 0-4 vs. No. 1 seeds. The Bulldogs most recent loss to a top seed came against North Carolina last year. … Friday’s win over Florida State improved Gonzaga’s NCAA Tournament record to 15-12. … Syracuse has been to 33 NCAA Tournaments, compiling a 51-32 mark.