Rested Gonzaga returns to action against NAIA opponent Eastern Oregon

It’s unlikely one of the country’s hottest players will be too cold coming out of a five-day holiday break.

Drew Timme’s vacation normally centers around family time and the Dallas Cowboys, but with a full-sized court in the front yard of his Texas home, Gonzaga’s All-American forward occasionally likes to scratch his hoops itch. It helps to have two solid practice players around at all times.

Timme’s father, Matt, was a 6-foot-8 forward at Southern Methodist and his younger brother, Walker, is a freshman at McNeese State. Board games can get heated and the Timmes like to settle things in a place with which they’re comfortable.

“I have to (play). I try not to, but my brother, dad and I, we have a full court out front and it’s hard not to get competitive from Monopoly, like, ‘Go see me on the court,’ ” said Timme, who’s averaged 27.6 points over Gonzaga’s past five games and has collected consecutive West Coast Conference Player of the Week honors.

Gonzaga players scattered across the country after their Dec. 20 win over Montana.

Senior guard Malachi Smith had plans to visit his mother in Florida, but later posted a photo from the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii.

Virginians Rasir Bolton and Efton Reid, along with Illinois native Braden Huff, huddled together in a Spokane Airport security line at 4:30 . the morning after the Montana game. Members of the Grizzlies’ team stood in line a few spots ahead of them.

Sophomore forward Ben Gregg returned home to Portland and got reacquainted with the shooting gun at Warner Pacific, the NAIA school where his father Matt serves as interim athletic director and women’s basketball coach.

So the 10th-ranked Zags (10-3) should be rested, but not too rusty, as they head into the back stretch of their season. Just to make sure, they’ll play a tuneup game against NAIA Eastern Oregon at 2 p.m. on Wednesday at McCarthey Athletic Center before opening WCC play on Saturday against Pepperdine

Thirteen Gonzaga players got on the score sheet when the Bulldogs thumped the Mountaineers 115-62 last year in a preseason exhibition.

A reset was desperately needed after Gonzaga played seven ranked opponents, in six states, over a seven-week stretch. Including a preseason exhibition, the Bulldogs traveled roughly 17,700 miles to play games against Tennessee (Frisco, Texas), Michigan State (San Diego), Texas (Austin), Portland State, Purdue and Xavier at the PK85 (Portland), Baylor (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) and Alabama (Birmingham).

They came out of the demanding stretch with three losses – two of those, against Texas and Purdue, not being particularly competitive – and a pair of victories against Kentucky and Alabama.

The schedule also tested Gonzaga’s ability to be resilient as the Bulldogs climbed out of deficits against teams they were expected to handle, such as Kent State, Northern Illinois and Montana.

“I think if people just take it in stride and just allow us to grow and keep learning and keep making mistakes and keep getting back up,” Timme said, “that’s all that really matters.”

Like last year, when EOU’s roster featured Paul Pennington, the brother-in-low of former Gonzaga guard Kevin Pangos, and Spokane native/Medical Lake graduate DaMarius Brown, the Mountaineers have a handful of local connections.

Spokane’s Justin Jeske, a Liberty High grad, and North Idaho College product Phillip Malatare are both returning players for Chris Kemp’s team, which brings a 7-4 record into Wednesday’s matchup. The Mountaineers also added Idaho State transfer and Lapwai High product Emmit Taylor III – a former 1A state player of the Year – to the roster in the offseason.

Malatare leads EOU at 17.2 points per game and is the Mountaineers’ top rebounder at 6.1 rebounds per game.

Taylor is the third-leading scorer, averaging 13.1 ppg, and has been EOU’s top 3-point threat, making 29 of 71 (40%) from behind the arc.

Kemp is a former NIC assistant coach. His head assistant at EOU is former Washington State guard Que Johnson, who averaged 11.3 points for the Cougars during the 2015-16 season before transferring to Western Kentucky.