In between blue-blood tests, No. 11 Gonzaga welcomes ASUN opponent North Florida to Kennel
It’s been 20 days since Gonzaga last took the floor at McCarthey Athletic Center.
The 11th-ranked Zags (8-1) have managed to pack a season’s worth of experiences into the three-week stretch between a Nov. 17 game against Southern Utah and Sunday’s 6 p.m. (Fox 28) contest against North Florida (2-6).
It’s been the best of times – double-digit Quad 1 wins over No. 8 Alabama and No. 18 Kentucky, along with a rout of Maryland – and the worst of times – a 40-point thumping courtesy of Michigan – for a team that still hasn’t won or lost by fewer than 10 points more than a month into the season.
The extended road stretch has brought personal highs and lows for certain GU players.
Graham Ike experienced what may go down as his most memorable game in a Gonzaga uniform, scoring 28 points on Friday against Kentucky, and also his least memorable, finishing without a field goal against Michigan.
The Zags have tried multiple starting lineups during the four-game swing, experimented with different rotations and used every defensive coverage in their playbook – burning through most of those in the first half against Michigan alone.
The goal prior to leaving for the Players Era Festival on Nov. 22: get a much better sense of what works and what doesn’t through a series of nonleague games that were set up to test the Zags in every way imaginable.
From that standpoint, consider it mission accomplished.
“This week was really more about us just getting back to who we are,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said after Friday’s win in Nashville. “As a coach, you have to game plan and what you end up doing, especially in the tournaments like we were just in where you’re playing three games in three days, sometimes you end up just game-planning and you lose your way from what you’re all about.
“Michigan did a great job of exploiting us in that regard. … First of all, Michigan’s a terrific team and just so well-coached. Dusty (May) and his staff have their guys executing at a really high level and playing the right way. We just need to get back and start doing that ourselves. Including myself, demand it out of them and make sure we weren’t just game-planning all the time. This was really just more about us being us.”
North Florida, rated No. 335 at KenPom, happens to be the team wedged between two blue bloods on Gonzaga’s nonconference schedule. After Friday’s 35-point rout of Kentucky in Nashville, the Zags might be eager to get their hands on a UCLA scouting report, anticipating Saturday’s showdown with the Bruins in Seattle.
First they have to handle business against the ASUN Ospreys, who don’t own a win against a Division I opponent under first-year coach Bobby Kenney and rank No. 361 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency while allowing 84.6 points per game.
Power conference opponents have taken advantage of North Florida’s struggling interior defense, pounding the Ospreys on the glass, piling up paint points and cashing in on second-chance scoring opportunities.
In the season opener, Florida totaled 29 offensive rebounds, 40 second-chance points and 66 paint points. Another SEC opponent, Tennessee, followed a similar script to thump the Ospreys, totaling 20 offensive boards, 27 second-chance points and 54 paint points.
With all the above in mind, watching film of Gonzaga likely hasn’t been a pleasant experience for Kenney’s team. The Zags drilled Kentucky in the paint Friday, finishing with a 46-18 advantage, and the Wildcats had no counter for Ike and Braden Huff, who combined to score 48 points.
Kamrin Oriol is North Florida’s top returning scorer and leads the Ospreys with 17.5 points and 4.4 assists. Two other players, Kent Jackson (12.5 ppg) and Trey Cady (10.2) average double figures.
North Florida visited Gonzaga for the season opener in 2022-23 under former coach Matthew Driscoll, losing 104-63 in a game that saw six Zags finish in double figures, let by 22 points from Drew Timme. A victory on Sunday would give Few the 750th of his career.