DENVER – The Gonzaga Bulldogs today take on a nationally ranked opponent coached by a close friend of Gonzaga’s Mark Few that features a prolific scoring guard but is missing a key interior player. Hmm, sounds a little like Thursday’s matchup against St. John’s, coached by Few’s buddy Steve Lavin, led by guard Dwight Hardy, but missing injured forward D.J. Kennedy.
DENVER – Bless Charles Barkley. In his new CBS/TNT/ Lizard- Lick- Towing- channel assignment to undo decades of the noxious Billy Packering of the NCAA tournament, he has approached his duties in his typically casual fashion – at one point identifying the primary Macy’s balloon of March Madness as “that Jimmer guy, out on the West Coast.”
Today’s third-round meeting in the NCAA tournament serves as the preface to BYU’s entrance into the West Coast Conference for the 2012 men’s basketball season.
The 11th-seeded Bulldogs (25-9) face third-seeded BYU (31-4) and their player of the year candidate Jimmer Fredette on Saturday in the round of 32 of the NCAA tournament.
Kyrie Irving zipped down the floor toward an empty frontcourt and fired a pass to a teammate for an easy basket. Even during a simple drill with the reserves, the electrifying point guard once again had Duke off and running.
