Location, location, location! GU happy with Salt Lake

Gonzaga coach Mark Few and his players refused to let themselves get caught up in any seeding debates on Sunday afternoon.

After gathering at Few’s home to watch CBS-TV’s Selection Show for this year’s NCAA Tournament, several Bulldogs ventured back to the McCarthey Athletic Center to address the media.

And none seemed the least bit perplexed by the Selection Committee’s decision to award the fourth-ranked Bulldogs, 27-3 and winners of 18 straight games, a No. 3 seed and pair them against 14th-seeded Xavier at 4:20 (PST) in Thursday’s opening round of the Oakland Regional in Salt Lake City.

“When it comes down to it, it really doesn’t matter,” senior forward Erroll Knight said of GU’s seed, which was a step down from what some college basketball experts – and Zag fans, too – were expecting. “Even a 16th seed, I don’t really care. I just want to get our there and play.

Few put an even more positive spin on Sunday’s development, saying it was “great” to be playing at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Center, in a city that was once the home of former GU and Utah Jazz legend John Stockton.

“I was really pleased,” he said of the site. “That’s the closest region for our fans and for our families to get to. We’ve got some real fans in Salt Lake because of the job John (Stockton) did down there. He’s been a great ambassador for our university, and we have some pleasant memories of playing pretty good down there.”

The Bulldogs, who are making their eighth straight NCAA appearance, will be playing in their third regional in the Huntsman Center, where they have a 1-2 tournament record. GU lost to Maryland 87-63 in the first round in 1995, but played two memorable games there in 2003, when they posted a 74-69 opening-round win over Cincinnati before dropping a 96-95 second-round decision to Arizona in two overtimes.

As for being seeded No. 3, Few added, “I don’t really think it matters, unless you’re a 1 going against a 16. Everyone else has their work cut out for them.

“I’m just glad to be in Salt Lake City. If we had our choice, that’s where we want to be. But we knew we were going to have to play somebody good, no matter what. That’s just the way this tournament is shaping up this year.”

In Xavier (21-10), the Bulldogs draw an enigmatic Atlantic 10 Conference tournament champion that has had plenty of past NCAA tournament success, but struggled to an 8-8 record against league foes during the regular season.

The Musketeers, under second-year coach Sean Miller, were 12-2 at one point during the year, with one of their losses having come on the road against Big-10 power Illinois by a narrow 65-62 margin.

But they were uncharacteristically inconsistent during league play, and had all but played themselves out of post-season contention before winning four games in four days during their league tournament and earning an automatic NCAA berth by beating Saint Joseph’s 62-61 in the A-10 title game.

“I’ve always had great respect for the job they’ve done,” Few said of the Musketeers, who made it to the Elite Eight of the 2004 NCAAs. “We knew we were going to have a really difficult game in the first round, and now we have one.”

Xavier lost two of its top players late in the season when leading scorer Brian Thornton went down with a broken ankle and Dedrick Finn was dismissed from the team for disciplinary reasons.

But Few said those losses haven’t seemed to affect the Musketeers’ approach.

“They lost a couple of kids of a couple of weeks back – two very important players,” he said. “But then they did a good job of rallying to win their conference tournament without them.

“That’s commendable, and shows just how tough-minded they are.”

Ticket update

Gonzaga is currently selling tickets to the NCAA first and second round tournament games on an invitation basis to current Gonzaga Athletics Benefactors.

An allotment of tickets was also made available to the Gonzaga student body. That process will take place through the close of business this evening, at which time Gonzaga expects to be sold out of its NCAA ticket allotment.

Fans are asked not to call the GU Ticket Office for NCAA Ticket Information. Salt Lake City is a sold-out venue.

Tickets for Gonzaga students are being allocated through GU Student Life.