First-year coach John Andrzejek is trying to build a winning program at Campbell. At the midmajor level, especially in this day and age, that usually requires identifying Division I transfers who come from a winning pedigree.
During a time of year when downtown Spokane is busy with shoppers, moviegoers and others enjoying the holiday season, two of the region’s basketball programs are hoping folks will carve out time for a new tradition.
Only No. 3 Gonzaga is assured a berth in the 68-team field. Two others, No. 30 Utah State and No. 39 Boise State, are firmly on the bubble, with No. 54 Colorado State on the outskirts.
Across about two hours in Los Angeles on Sunday evening, Washington State did a lot of things right, turned around lots of issues that have plagued the club in games past.
MOSCOW, Idaho – Six Idaho players scored in double figures and the Vandals hit 17 of their 3-point attempts during a 109-55 rout of NAIA program Evergreen State on Sunday afternoon at ICCU Arena.
SEATTLE – With Saturday’s result at Climate Pledge Arena, news that Gonzaga and UCLA would be adding a few extra chapters to their storied history on the basketball court may have landed differently with Bruins fans than it did with Zags fans.
Gonzaga’s bigs, per usual, led the way.GU’s point guards led in their own way, dealing with an assortment of UCLA defenses, zones, traps, presses and “a lot of pressure,” as Zags coach Mark Few said during his post-game remarks.
It wasn’t much of a surprise, but bigs on both teams carried the scoring load.In the first half alone, Gonzaga’s Graham Ike and Braden Huff and UCLA’s Tyler Bilodeau, a Kennewick, Washington, native, piled up 45 of the teams’ 85 points. The trio combined to make 16 of 20 field-goal attempts and went 4 of 4 on 3-pointers.
Graham Ike caught the ball at the free throw line and surveyed what was in front of him. Just one baby-blue jersey stood between Gonzaga’s forward and the basket, but another was already sliding into position to provide reinforcement. The cinderblock pieces making up this particular UCLA wall: 6-foot-11 center Xavier Booker and 6-foot-9 forward Eric Dailey Jr.
LOGAN, Utah – The Idaho women's basketball team stumbled down the stretch and lost step with Utah State, which finally broke free from a back-and-forth game.
Eastern Washington made a point on Friday, as it has much of the men’s basketball season, to get the ball inside and force Cal Baptist to guard the Eagles’ bigs.
PULLMAN – Plagued by turnovers, the Washington State women’s basketball team fell off Texas Tech’s pace in the first quarter and the Cougars’ nonconference woes continued with another lopsided loss.
SEATTLE – If Gonzaga’s history against UCLA tells us anything, it’s that the victor will probably need contributions from a handful of candidates at different spots and perhaps some timely magic from a single player willing to rise to the occasion in the second half.
SEATTLE – Good things have generally come from Gonzaga’s matchups with UCLA, although fans might prefer to skip over the last 40 minutes of nonconference action between the Zags and Bruins.
If the team from Gonzaga thumps Kentucky by 35 points one week, and then looks to stretch its all-time advantage over UCLA to 8-3 the next week, it’s fair to question the contemporary relevance of the term “Blue Bloods” in regard to men’s college basketball. And if you beat the basketball aristocracy more often than not over a span of 25 years, shouldn’t you also be a part of such conversation?
Braeden Smith mapped out what the 2025-26 season could look like when he made a considerable bet on himself transferring from Colgate to Gonzaga 19 months ago.
For a closer look at the Bruins and Saturday’s matchup, we reached out to Aaron Heisen, who covers UCLA basketball for the Southern California News Group, for a Q&A.
