Acclaim before game
RALEIGH, N.C. – If this game were to be decided by the ability of each team to praise the other, it’d probably end in a quadruple-overtime draw.
Gonzaga and Davidson went to great lengths to compliment the other as preparations wrapped up for their opening-round NCAA men’s basketball tournament showdown this morning at 9:25 PDT.
And for good reason. The matchup is being labeled as one of the most intriguing games of the first round. Seventh-seeded and 24th-ranked Gonzaga (25-7) is making its 10th consecutive NCAA trip, but the Bulldogs feel they have something to prove after losing to San Diego in the WCC tournament and quietly bowing out of last year’s NCAA tournament with a 70-57 setback to Indiana.
Davidson (26-6) sports a 22-game winning streak, one of the country’s most prolific scorers in Stephen Curry and a national ranking (No. 23). The Wildcats, though, have dropped NCAA openers the last three years and haven’t won a tournament game since 1969, when Lefty Driesell directed Davidson to a regional final.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few said Davidson is as formidable as any first-round opponent the Bulldogs have encountered over the last decade. That encounter will come at the 19,722-seat RBC Center, roughly 150 miles from the Davidson campus.
“We can’t deny that we’re disappointed we got sent across the country to play in their backyard, but that’s the way it goes. Butler is going through the same thing,” Few said. “We always tell our guys to control what you can control.
“They are just a great team. They play the way we like to play. They push the ball up the floor, share the ball, all of their guys have a very good feel for the game. If you show too much on a screen, they hit the slip guy. The point guard (Jason Richards) has phenomenal vision. I don’t know if we’ve played against one with that kind of vision.”
Davidson coach Bob McKillop invoked the names of three Wildcat opponents – Duke, North Carolina and UCLA – in describing Gonzaga’s strengths. He said the Bulldogs compare to Duke with their ability to spread the court and work off the dribble, North Carolina in that “their point guard (Jeremy Pargo) is a one-man fast break,” and UCLA with their length and interchangeable parts.
Bulldogs Pargo, Josh Heytvelt and David Pendergraft have experienced NCAA wins. But all three are keenly aware that numerous national pundits are picking Davidson to win and that it wouldn’t be considered an upset because the Wildcats are two-point favorites.
“There are always people saying things,” Heytvelt said. “We’re just focusing on us and playing hard.”
As a senior, Pendergraft said the importance of today’s game is amplified.
“I’ll probably be remembered for this team more than any other because it is my last year,” said Pendergraft, who has played in six NCAA games, three of them GU victories. “Obviously, I want to go as far as possible and a first-round exit is not acceptable.”
Pargo said Gonzaga needs to find that fine line of playing full throttle and free of pressure.
“You don’t want to beat it into everybody’s heads that the NCAA tournament is the biggest thing in the world because that can add pressure to some guys and you don’t want to do that,” he said. “You want to play hard with a sense of excitement.
“We want to leave a legacy that’s been carried on pretty good for the last several years. We want to do our part, keep this community happy and keep ourselves happy. And getting wins in the NCAA tournament is always a good thing.”
McKillop, too, is trying to avoid piling on the pressure.
“When we start thinking about wins and losses, all of a sudden you let that dictate your mind-set,” he said. “We’ve had an objective since the beginning of the year: Get better, play to win and have fun. The rhythm of the season has to become the rhythm of the postseason. If the cards fall our way as a result of getting better, having fun and playing to win, so be it.”
The stakes are high for both teams, but only one will leave the court satisfied.
“We’re kind of embracing that (underdog) role,” Pendergraft said. “A lot of people are picking us to get upset by Davidson, especially coming down here to North Carolina. We are just ready to go and ready to prove everyone wrong. Again, it’s not about the media or the crowd. It’s about us and our goals as a team to go out there and win one game at a time and go as far as we can.”