No. 3 Gonzaga looking to control No. 14 Kennesaw State’s tempo in NCAA opener: ‘Just stay disciplined’
PORTLAND – It didn’t take Antoine Pettway long to phone a friend after Kennesaw State learned who it would be playing in the first round of the program’s second-ever NCAA Tournament.
Pettway still has Nate Oats on speed dial after working on Alabama’s coaching staff for 15 years. Oats became the Crimson Tide’s head coach in 2019, but kept Pettway on his staff for four seasons until Kennesaw State hired the former Alabama guard in 2023.
The third-year coach had seen and scouted Gonzaga when Oats and Mark Few scheduled a multi-year, neutral-site series in 2021 and 2022, but the only player still on the Zags’ roster from either of those teams is Braden Huff, who redshirted in 2022-23 and won’t play in Thursday’s NCAA Tournament opener at Moda Center (7 p.m., TBS) due to a knee injury.
Pettway could recognize Gonzaga’s play style from previous matchups, but wasn’t as familiar with Few’s personnel. Oats could help there. The Alabama coach prepared for the Zags back in November, prior to the opening game of the Players Era Festival – a high-scoring affair won by GU, 91-81.
“I talked to (Oats). We got the matchup, he’s been through this,” Pettway said. “That’s one of my biggest mentors. … He talked to me about the first meeting he had with his Buffalo team when they got picked to go to the NCAA. You have to make sure the guys know they need to believe, they have a chance to win. We talked about that.
“Then the team was kind of different when they played them. They had the big kid, Huff. It was kind of a different team or whatnot. Him and Mark Few are really good friends. Everybody knows coach Few is a legend in this coaching business.”
Few has Oats in his contacts and was asked if he also called the Alabama coach to collect information about Pettway and Kennesaw State. The Owls and Tide have many of the same tendencies, playing an up-tempo style on offense that relies heavily on the 3-point shot and the ability to create foul pressure.
“No, coach Oats has his hands full right now. I left him alone,” Few said. “I thought about it early Sunday night when it popped up. … Obviously we’ve had some great games with Alabama over the recent history. I mean, they’re similar in some ways to Alabama, but they’re different, too. But it does help that our guys have experienced playing against Alabama even earlier this year.”
After four days of scouting and film sessions, the Zags know enough about the Owls to know why they can’t take their first-round opponent lightly – even if GU hasn’t dropped an NCAA Tournament opener since 2008.
What sticks out most watching a Kennesaw State team that ranks No. 19 nationally in KenPom’s adjusted tempo metric?
“Their speed,” Gonzaga’s Tyon Grant-Foster said. “They’re going to play fast and they like to block shots. They’re like top 20 in the country in blocked shots, but we’ve got to pump fake and play off two (feet) and just stay disciplined.”
The Owls noticed similar qualities in Gonzaga when studying Few’s team on film. The 2025-26 Zags haven’t been as good in transition as other groups, but they were effective at pushing the pace in their last game, outscoring Santa Clara 27-0 in fastbreak points.
Pettway was asked about Kennesaw State’s keys to victory in a game the Zags are favored to win by 21½ points.
“Hope we make 25 3s tomorrow,” Pettway said, possibly only half-joking. “No, I think they play a good pace, especially in transition. That’s something we try to do. We’re one of the faster playing teams in the country. If we can kind of get stops, we want to get out there in transition, be in attack mode as well.”
Kennesaw State’s RJ Johnson has been a reliable scoring option for the Owls since top scorer Simeon Cottle was suspended indefinitely in mid-January for his role in the NCAA’s point shaving scandal. The 6-4 guard averages 14.5 points, four rebounds and 3.1 assists while converting 45.7% from the field and a stellar 43.3% from the 3-point line.
“At the end of the day, we can do anything,” Johnson said.
Gonzaga will hope to counter Kennesaw State’s frenetic pace with sound defensive play – something that’s been a hallmark of Few’s team all season, but particularly since Huff was sidelined in January. The Zags are No. 10 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency and have conceded more than 70 points just twice since Huff’s injury.
“They put their head down a lot, play bully ball, go through the glass, shoot 3s,” guard Adam Miller said of Kennesaw State. “They’re kind of junkyard dog-ish. They’ll shoot 3s, but I feel like they really do a good job of getting out and running. … You’ve got to block them out, do a good job of guarding their actions, then sit down and guard one on one.”
The Zags are 23-4 in first-round NCAA Tournament games. Kennesaw State is 0-1 all-time at the tournament, losing 72-67 to Xavier in 2023.