Bulldogs’ Unbeaten Start Warrants Tough Question
The wondering has started.
Coaches, fans and media members are beginning to realize there might be something special about this year’s Gonzaga University men’s basketball team.
The Bulldogs, who entertain Santa Clara in Martin Centre on Thursday night at 7, are 16-4 overall and leading the West Coast Conference at 6-0. They have won seven straight and 12 of their last 13 games.
And suddenly, everywhere second-year coach Dan Monson goes, he is asked the same question: “Do you guys think you can run the table against conference opponents?”
It’s a tough question and an even tougher task.
Since Gonzaga joined the WCC in 1979-80, only three teams have completed conference play 14-0. Pepperdine was the last in 1991-92. Gonzaga’s best finish came in 1993-94 when the Bulldogs won their first regular-season title with a 12-2 record.
Yet Monson does not shy from the question - or the task.
“Realistically, one game at a time, you’ve got to think you can (win them all),” he said during last weekend’s swing through the Bay Area, where GU scored a rare sweep of San Francisco and Santa Clara. “This team can’t be satisfied with losing a game. They’re as good as anybody in the league, and when you’re as good as anybody in the league, you’ve got to expect to win every night. And I think our kids have that attitude right now.”
Fortunately for Monson, his team’s confidence is tempered by maturity.
“We’ve grown up a lot,” he said. “And we’re smart enough now to know we can also lose every game if we don’t come ready to play. People are gunning for us, and we have to understand that and be up for that challenge.”
Earlier start for Zags
Tipoff for Gonzaga’s Saturday night WCC matchup against San Francisco at Martin Centre has been moved up to 7 to accommodate live television coverage on Fox Sports Northwest.
Tough trip for Eastern
Eastern Washington University, after splitting a four-game homestand that included a pair of demoralizing one-point defeats - one of them a 101-100 loss to Weber State in four overtimes - faces perhaps its toughest road trip this week.
The Eagles (7-10 overall) sit alone in fourth place in the Big Sky Conference at 4-3, but face back-to-back games against third-place Weber State (15-6, 6-2) and second-place Portland State (13-4, 6-1).
They fly to Ogden, Utah, for tonight’s 6:05 matchup against Weber, fly home Thursday, then board a bus Saturday morning for a 6-hour drive to Portland where they face the Vikings Saturday night at 7:05.
EWU coach Steve Aggers is hoping last Saturday’s 76-69 win over Montana will help right his team mentally.
A time for healing
Cal State Sacramento’s Arinze Anouro took an indefinite leave of absence from the Hornets program this month after his father was shot to death in a Jan. 8 convenience store holdup in San Francisco.
Anouro, a freshman forward, who was averaging 4.6 points and 4.4 rebounds, returned with family members to his father’s native Nigeria to attend funeral services.
“I’ve been in college basketball for 24 years, and this is the toughest thing I’ve experienced with one of my players,” Sac State coach Tom Abatemarco said at the time. “I told Arinze to take all the time he needs to deal with this. The last thing he should be thinking about is basketball.”
3-pointers
Saint Mary’s has played four overtime games this season - the most of any WCC team - and has lost all four. … Northern Arizona shot 68.8 percent (22 of 32) from 3-point range last week in splitting Big Sky home games against Idaho State (win) and Weber State (loss). … NAU’s Dan McClintock tied a school record with six blocks against Weber. … Portland’s Ryan Jones scored 22 points in last Friday’s loss at Santa Clara and raised his average to 10.8 per game, the highest of any WCC freshman.