NCAA basketball

When drawing parallels between Gonzaga’s current team and the 2023-24 group that extended the program’s streak of consecutive Sweet 16 appearances, the easiest place to start is the win-loss column.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few is on the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame ballot for the first time.

SEATTLE — David Riley unfolded his frame from the chair, grabbed the paper box score off the table and ducked through the doorway, heading to the Washington State team bus. The Cougars had a flight to catch, back to Pullman and away from Alaska Airlines Arena, where his WSU team took an 89-73 loss to rival Washington on Wednesday night.

Gonzaga fans who watched Wednesday’s game against Nicholls State from the opening tip probably grew frustrated seeing the Bulldogs struggle with many of the same issues that surfaced in recent losses to Kentucky and Connecticut.

Gonzaga fans who watched Wednesday’s game against Nicholls State from the opening tipoff probably grew frustrated watching the Bulldogs struggle with many of the same issues that surfaced in recent losses to Kentucky and Connecticut.

From staff reports

Gonzaga’s Nolan Hickman went from zero points against UConn to 11 points and one of his better all-around efforts of the season against Nicholls State on Wednesday. Graham Ike, limited to three points by the Huskies, matching his lowest output in a Gonzaga uniform, responded with better than a point-per-minute pace.

Here are three observations from No. 13 Gonzaga’s 102-72 win over Nicholls State on Wednesday at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

GU slips one spot after loss to UConn, and Bruins' win against Arizona.

PULLMAN – In the spring, when David Riley became Washington State’s new head basketball coach, he had a lot on his plate. Could he keep an NCAA Tournament roster together? How would the Cougars fare as West Coast Conference affiliate members? Who would replace departing players?

Not unlike Gonzaga, Nicholls State has relied on a balanced attack this season, with multiple players capable of stepping up and carrying the offensive torch on any given night for a team that’s won five consecutive games.

There’s no place like home – and perhaps no better time to be back there for Gonzaga’s basketball team.

A team can’t get enough of them and a team can get too many of them.

The 13th-ranked Zags and No. 18 UCLA will meet at 1 p.m. in the first college game at the Intuit Dome, the Los Angeles Clippers’ new venue.

Jeremy Jones took the long road home. After seeing action for Gonzaga basketball from 2016 to 2019, Jones ventured abroad, spending five seasons playing professionally in Austria, Germany and Japan. Now 28, he's back home in Texas with Rio Grande Valley (RGV), the Houston Rockets’ affiliate in the NBA G League. 

From staff reports

UConn freshman forward Liam McNeeley has literally walked in Drew Timme’s shoes. And wore Timme’s old T-shirts.

After losing consecutive games for the first time since 2018-19, Gonzaga took another hit in the Associated Press Top 25 rankings, dropping five spots to No. 13 after Saturday’s 77-71 loss to Connecticut at Madison Square Garden.

From staff reports