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Bracket analysis: Gonzaga

Gonzaga head coach Mark Few will have his hands full with Indiana. (Holly Pickett / The Spokesman-Review)
By Steve Bergum steveb@spokesman.com
Gonzaga head coach Mark Few will have his hands full with Indiana. (Holly Pickett / The Spokesman-Review)

Should Gonzaga win its opener against Indiana, the Bulldogs will face either UCLA or Weber State. Here’s a look at all four teams in that corner of the bracket.

No. 10 Gonzaga

Coach: Mark Few

Record: 23-10 overall, 11-3 West Coast Conference

Strength: The Bulldogs, since the suspension of Josh Heytvelt, have relied on their great scoring balance and a new commitment to defense to make up for the loss of their sophomore center.

Season highlight: It was the Zags’ 82-74 win over North Carolina in the NIT Tip-Off Classic that made believers out skeptics on a national level.

Style of play: The Bulldogs like to play four guards, create havoc on defense with a variety of zone presses and keep the tempo at a high level.

No. 7 Indiana

Coach: Kelvin Sampson

Record: 20-10

Strength: The Hoosiers epitomize the toughness of their first-year head coach and work as hard as any team in the country – on both ends of the court.

Season highlight: IU flew back to Storrs, Conn., in late January and posted a 77-73 non-conference road win over the Connecticut Huskies to run their season’s longest winning streak to five.

Style of play: The Hoosiers grind it out on offense and try to outmuscle opponents on the defensive end of the court.

No. 2 UCLA

Coach: Ben Howland

Record: 26-5

Strength: Despite not having a senior on its roster, UCLA returns two starters and several key backups from last year’s 32-7 team that lost to Florida in the title game of the NCAA tournament.

Season highlight: Back in November, the Bruins traveled to Hawaii and beat Chaminade, Kentucky and Georgia Tech to win the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational.

Style of play: Look for UCLA, which has six players averaging in double figures, to play fast and loose and share the basketball.

No. 15 Weber State

Coach: Randy Rahe

Record: 20-11

Strength: Weber State has outstanding depth, with nine players having averaged more than 13 minutes per game during the regular season.

Season highlight: The Wildcats, despite squandering most of a 17-point second-half lead, hung on to defeat Northern Arizona 88-80 in the finals of the Big Sky Conference tournament and qualify for the NCAAs.

Style of play: Weber won’t wow anyone with aesthetics, but they usually find a way to hang around and put themselves in position to win.