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#19/19 Gonzaga (3-0) at Arizona State (2-0)
FRIDAY, NOV. 14 | 8 P.M. PT | TEMPE, AZ | DESERT FINANCIAL ARENA
TELEVISION: ESPN2
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE RADIO | LIVE STATS
THE OPENING TIP
– Gonzaga takes its first road trip of the season and visits Arizona State in a true road game Friday at 8 p.m. Pacific. It’s only the second all-time meetings between the programs, as the Zags won the first matchup last season, 88-80. The game was tied at halftime and the Sun Devils led 69-67 with 7:21 remaining.
– The Bulldogs are coming off an impressive 90-63 win over No. 23 Creighton in Spokane Tuesday. Graham Ike had 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Braden Huff added 14 points, Mario Saint-Supery scored 13 off the bench. GU forced 17 turnovers and held the Bluejays to 36.7 percent shooting from the field.
– Following the win, Gonzaga jumped to No. 2 in KenPom’s ranking and the ESPN BPI rating. In KenPom, the Zags’ defense ranks fifth in the country, while their offense is ninth.
– Graham Ike eclipsed the 2,000-point mark in his career in the win over Creighton. He needed nine points to reach the mark and finished with 20. He sits at 2,011. Ike ranks second among active scorers in NCAA Div. 1, Indiana’s Tucker DeVries is first at 2,031. Ike’s 927 rebounds also ranks second among active players. He is the only active player with 1,500 points and 900 rebounds in a career. Ike was named preseason All-American by CBS Sports and ESPN, and to the NABC and Naismith Player of the Year and Malone Award watch lists.
– Ike is one of five players in the nation with three double-doubles already this season, as he has a double-double in each of the three games to open the schedule.
– While the Bulldogs only return 36 percent of their scoring from last season, along with 34 percent of their rebounding, the current roster features four 1,000-point career scorers and two more at 853 and 754. Seven Zags have played at least 65 games in their careers, with six averaging at least 20 minutes per game. GU’s 2025-26 roster features the 2022-23 Mountain West Preseason Player of the Year, the 2022-23 Big Sky Player of the Year, the 2023-24 WAC Player of the Year, and the 2023-24 Patriot League Player of the Year. KenPom metrics ranks the Bulldogs’ roster second in the nation in experience.
SCOUTING THE SUN DEVILS
– Arizona State beat Utah Tech Sunday, 81-66. Massamba Diop led all scorers with 18 points. Santiago Trouet added 13 points and 10 rebounds. Pepperdine transfer Moe Odum had 14 points, six assists, six rebounds and three steals.
– The Sun Devils opened their season with an 81-64 win over Southern Utah in Tempe on Nov. 4.
– In the first all-time matchup last year, Gonzaga beat Arizona State in Spokane 88-80 in a back-and-forth battle. Braden Huff led the way for the Zags with 21 points. Basheer Jihad added 22 points and 10 boards for the Sun Devils.
– Arizona State was picked to finish last out of 16 teams in the Big 12 preseason poll.
– Arizona State has eight incoming transfers, highlighted by Marcus Adams Jr. and Moe Odum.
– Arizona State returns one player from last year’s team that went 13-20.
SERIES INFO
– Gonzaga won the first all-time meeting last season in Spokane, 88-80. Braden Huff scored 21 points off the bench to lead the Zags, while Adam Miller had eight points and three assists for Arizona State.
– The Zags have a 60-29 record with all of the current schools in the Big 12 Conference.
UP NEXT
– Gonzaga welcomes Southern Utah to the McCarthey Athletic Center Monday at 6 p.m.
– GU has won two of the three all-time meetings against the Thunderbirds, including the most recent in November 2012 where the Zags prevailed with a 38-point victory margin (103-65)
– The first-ever matchup was a win for Gonzaga in 1995 (77-60), but the Thunderbirds won their next matchup with the Bulldogs in 1996 (47-71)
– The Thunderbirds hold the record for the most blocks scored against Gonzaga by a single player (5) in program history. Jayson Cheesman had five blocks against the Zags in the 2012 matchup.
– Also in the 2012 matchup, Gonzaga tied its program best for the most steals in a game (18).
– SUU was picked to finish last in the WAC Preseason Coaches Poll, but there is room for improvement with their essentially all-new team.
– The Thunderbirds have a reloaded transfer roster – Isaiah Cottrell from UNLV, Dylan Jones from Fairleigh Dickson, Jaiden Feroah from Holy Cross, Zach Bell from Jacksonville, Jalen Lee from Long Island, and Tanner Hayhurst from the College of Southern Idaho (and BYU before that).
EXPERIENCE IS KEY
– While the Bulldogs only return 36 percent of their scoring from last season, along with 34 percent of their rebounding, the current roster features four 1,000-point career scorers and two more at 853 and 754.
– Eight Zags have played at least 65 games in their careers, with seven averaging at least 20 minutes.
– KenPom metrics ranks the Bulldogs’ lineup second in the nation in experience. KenPom’s “experience” statistic measures average number of full DI seasons played, weighted by minutes played. GU is at 2.78, while Indiana leads at 3.03.
– The average age of Gonzaga’s roster, featuring 12 scholarship players and four walk-ons, is 21.2 years old. The Brooklyn Nets, by comparison, are the NBA’s youngest team at 23.3 years old.
– GU’s roster features the 2022-23 Mountain West Conference Preseason Player of the Year, the 2022-23 Big Sky Conference Player of the Year, the 2023-24 WAC Player of the Year, and the 2023-24 Patriot League Player of the Year.
