Jan. 14—More than halfway through the regular season, ninth-ranked Gonzaga is precisely where it needs to be but probably nowhere close to where it wants to be after a few close calls in West Coast Conference play.
A WCC "bye" gave the Zags (17-1, 5-0 WCC) lots of time to address three key items on the checklist before diving into the next stretch of league games, starting with this week's road swing at Washington State (8-10, 3-2) and Seattle U (12-6, 1-4).
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFor one, Gonzaga needed to erase any lingering traces of the virus that's spent roughly a month spreading through Mark Few's locker room, dating back to the days leading up to a nonleague finale against Oregon.
Second, the Zags had to look inward. With a short holiday break followed by a stretch of five WCC games in 12 days, there wasn't much time to get on the practice court and examine the issues that led to stretches of inconsistency against San Diego, Seattle U, Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara.
Finally, Gonzaga used the extended break to get an early jump on preparation for Washington State, which, like the vast majority of WCC teams, had to overhaul its roster this offseason. Second-year coach David Riley replaced his top six scorers from 2024-25, so Gonzaga couldn't glean much from reviewing last year's series with WSU when preparing for Thursday's 7 p.m. (CBSSN) matchup at Beasley Coliseum.
"These byes are great, especially with that tough stretch we went through," Few said after an 89-77 win over Santa Clara last Thursday. "The stretch kind of ended with this, as far as game, day off, game, day off, game. Then we finally got one more day off. It'll be nice. We had a virus or something circling through the team that's knocked a bunch of guys down, so hopefully we can get some space from that now."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNow Gonzaga's focus is creating separation from its opponents, both in the league standings and ideally at a much earlier stage of individual WCC games.
The Zags still don't own a conference loss, but they've trailed by at least eight points in three consecutive games and held a halftime lead in just one of those. It's too early to be considered a troubling trend, but might qualify as a surprising one after GU blitzed through the nonconference schedule, often taking double-digit halftime leads against high-major opponents.
GU's usually been able to overcome sporadic first-half play with well-timed "kill shots" — or 10-0 scoring runs — to pull away from WCC opponents in the second half.
Gonzaga's next opponent has been even less predictable. WSU mustered only 55 points in a double-digit loss to Seattle U at Climate Pledge Arena, but the Cougars were able to pile up 82 during Saturday's two-possession road loss to a Saint Mary's team that ranks 20th nationally in scoring defense. Prior to hosting WSU, the Gaels were allowing only 61.2 points in games at UCU Pavilion.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementRecent data points are more encouraging than discouraging for WSU, which won consecutive games against LMU and Oregon State before rallying to outscore Saint Mary's in the second half of a six-point loss. The Cougars are averaging 80.3 points over their last three games and have won five of their last seven after a five-game losing skid that stretched from Nov. 25-Dec. 14.
"This is a hell of a league. It's a blessing to be able to play in this conference," Riley said during a postgame radio interview. "Sometimes it doesn't feel that way when you look up and you have to play Saint Mary's and Gonzaga back to back."
Gonzaga's favored by 17 1/2 points but Thursday also presents a unique challenge for Few's team, which hasn't played a true road game with students in attendance since a visit to Arizona State in early November.
"I know they're a physical team, I know they're going to play hard," Gonzaga forward Graham Ike said. "It's going to be an away game for us so we've got to be locked in on all cylinders and just be ready to go. We can't get complacent over this break. We've got to continue to get better every single day and have a championship mentality."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementLast year, the Cougars started 6-10 Ethan Price next to 6-11 Dane Erikstrup. With both players graduating, WSU has shifted to a single-big lineup while Gonzaga's added more size to its starting unit. On Thursday, it'll be the Cougars' ND Okafor (10.1 points per game) up against the Zags' frontcourt pairing of Ike (17.8) and Braden Huff (17.8).
"They're going to get out in transition, they're going to go inside, they're going to post you up, they're going to be super physical," Riley said. "I think they have a clear identity with some of the stuff they do offensively and I think the same thing defensively with the way they'll put two on the ball with some of their ball-screen stuff and try to disrupt you, and they do a good job with their scouting reports."
Okafor is one of two double-digit scorers for a WSU team led by freshman Ace Glass, who averages 15.9 ppg. The Cougars have three other players averaging nine points, but one of those, guard Tomas Thrastarson, is currently sidelined with a foot fracture.
Thursday's game will mark the first matchup between Gonzaga wing Steele Venters and Riley, his former coach at Eastern Washington. Venters, who was recruited by Riley — then an assistant coach in Cheney — to be a preferred walk-on with the Eagles, missed last year's meetings with WSU while recovering from an Achilles tear. He's averaging 6.3 ppg on 40% shooting from the 3-point line for GU.
The Cougars own a 98-55 advantage in the all-time series between the Inland Northwest rivals, but the Zags have won six straight matchups since 2011 and 15 of the last 18.
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