Gonzaga-Pepperdine key matchup: Zags try to cool off red-hot Colbey Ross

Pepperdine’s Colbey Ross got off to a bit of a slow start, by his standards, with just 14 points in Thursday’s opening-round tournament win over Pacific. The sophomore point guard heated up Friday, nailing a game-winning 3-pointer and scoring 20 points in a 68-65 victory over Loyola Marymount. He followed that with 26 points and nine assists in Saturday’s rout over San Francisco.

Ross has even more on his shoulders with the Waves dealing through a couple of injuries sustained during the tournament. He has delivered in a big way, hitting 8 of 12 3-pointers in the Waves’ last victories.

“In the WCC, we didn’t finish real well, a lot of games weren’t on national television,” Waves coach Lorenzo Romar said. “But I think now we’ve been able to watch for three nights, our team has seen it all year, what a competitor Colbey is. You talk about guards on the West Coast and around the country that play to compete, he’s right up there.”

Ross can expect to see a steady diet of GU’s Josh Perkins and Geno Crandall, and possibly 6-foot-7 Jeremy Jones. The Zags’ backcourt did a nice job on Ross in a Feb. 21 meeting won by the Zags 92-64. Ross made 4 of 12 shots and scored just 12 points, seven below his average.