No. 19 Gonzaga looking to iron out kinks in return home against Southern Utah

After four games and four double-digit wins, No. 19 Gonzaga hasn’t wasted time establishing who and what it wants to be in 2025-26.

A swarming defense that can suffocate opponents on the perimeter, holding them scoreless or shotless for long stretches? Check.

An elite rebounding group that’s difficult to match on the defensive glass and equally hard to keep from the offensive glass? Check.

A rising top-20 team that’s bound to throw the first punch, build a comfortable lead before the first media timeout and steamroll from there? Well, not quite. Or at least, not yet.

The Zags (4-0) may have a perfect record, but they’re far from a perfect product, making them no different than 364 other Division I teams after two weeks of the college basketball season.

Gonzaga’s generally been in cruise control by halftime, leading by an average of 14.2 points against Texas Southern, Oklahoma, Creighton and Arizona State when the first-half buzzer sounded.

There aren’t too many qualms with the final margin of victory, either. Having played games against the SEC, Big East and Big 12, the Zags are winning by an average of 24.7 points entering Monday’s 6 p.m. (KHQ) nonconference clash with Western Athletic Conference opponent Southern Utah (1-3) at McCarthey Athletic Center.

With that in mind, it could be surprising to learn Gonzaga’s led at the opening media timeout just once this season. That came against Oklahoma, in a contest where GU trailed 8-3 after 2½ minutes before going up 9-8 when officials stopped play for a timeout. Otherwise, the Zags have been working from behind, trailing 7-5 against Texas Southern, 20-19 against Creighton and 11-6 Friday against Arizona State.

“It’s hard to put your finger on it,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “Sometimes it’s been a little bit of a defensive problem, sometimes it’s been a little bit of an offensive problem. You’re not going to blow somebody out in the first four minutes. We’re establishing a rhythm, trying to figure out what they’re doing, how they’re covering us, if our coverages are working and how we’re attacking that. A lot of times it’s just a little bit of a feeling out process.”

The Zags will have one more opportunity to feel things out against a lower-tier opponent before their nonconference schedule ratchets back up next Monday when they open the Players Era Festival against No. 9 Alabama in Las Vegas.

“There’s some coverage things we’ve got to get everybody on the same page,” Few said, “and there’s just some offensive execution, shot selection within the context of the game things we’ve got to kind of get squared away and then we’ll be fine.”

Few probably also wouldn’t mind if his team found its mark from the 3-point line – the only other area that could be considered a deficiency for this group – before traveling to Vegas next week for three games in three or four days.

The Zags haven’t made more than 33% of their 3s in a single game, shot under 30% twice and are making 30.4% as a team after going 6 of 21 (28%) against Arizona State.

In other words, it isn’t a bad time to be playing Southern Utah. The Thunderbirds rank No. 350 nationally in 3-point percentage defense (41.8%) after allowing Omaha to make 10 of 19 (53%) of its tries from behind the arc in a 90-85 loss to the Mavericks. UT Rio Grande Valley went 16 of 28 (57%) from the 3-point line against Southern Utah and the ASU team Gonzaga beat on Friday made 9 of 23 (39%) in a season opener against the Thunderbirds.

The Zags may not have to worry about the Thunderbirds making too many 3s, either. Southern Utah is more than willing to hoist from deep, but the Thunderbirds rank No. 322 nationally in 3-point percentage (27.4%) and converted only 4 of 25 (16%) against ASU.

Gonzaga and Southern Utah both rely on deep bench units. The Zags rank No. 47 nationally at 37 bench points per game while the Thunderbirds sit just a few spots below at No. 53, averaging 36.7 per game.

While Graham Ike’s paced Gonzaga in scoring each of the last three games, averaging 18.0 points and 10.3 rebounds on the season, the Thunderbirds have had three different scoring leaders in their first four games.

Senior forward Jaiden Feroah, a 6-foot-9 transfer from Holy Cross who also played at Green River Community College in the Seattle area, is leading the Thunderbirds both in scoring (14.0 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 ppg). Impressively, he also ranks No. 6 in the country with 3.8 blocked shots per game.

Freshman guard Elijah Duval is already contributing on a number of different levels early in his rookie season. Duval is leading Southern Utah in assists (5.0 apg) and he’s second in scoring (13.5 ppg) after totaling 20 points against Omaha.