GONZAGA -vs- SE LOUISIANA STATE

After a very successful trip to Madison Square Garden and fresh off a National Invitational Tournament Championship, the 6-0 Zags look for what should be a fairly routine home win tonight at 6 p.m. against 2-5 Southeastern Louisiana.

Coming off two hotly contested wins (hotly meaning the refs might have been a bit feverish) against physical Georgia and St. Johns teams, tonight’s home game should see some even-handed refereeing. I doubt there will be kamikaze kicks to our players faces (see: Perkins broken jaw) and numerous phantom fouls (see: Karnowski called for a block with both hands straight up while the opponent drove into his back). Vent over.

Anyhow, I would expect Coach Few to use this game to do some fine tuning in preparation for Saturday’s huge road game against #3 ranked Arizona. With Josh Perkins out for an extended period necessitating coach Few to pull Silas Melson’s redshirt, I would anticipate seeing some different looks with Silas getting a lot of run.

SE Louisiana plays in the Southland Conference where they have won two of their last three games, getting wins against Tennessee Tech and Langston. They have four players who score in double digits: Jackson 15.7 ppg, Filmore 12.1 ppg, Guillory 10.3, and Devonte Upson 10.0 (he is also their leading rebounder ave. 8.1 pg).

They shoot a woeful .278 from deep. Filmore is the most dangerous sniper hitting a respectable .388. As far as size, they do not have any. Their Center, and biggest player, Devonte Upson, goes 6’9 and weighs in at only 205 pounds. Look for our bigs to basically score at will.

As well as being severely undersized, SE Louisiana turns it over to the tune of 16 times per game. Their pg Jay Jackson has an especially hard time hanging onto the ball, turning the rock over 17 times in a two game stretch against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

Gonzaga has five players currently scoring in double figures; Wiltjer, Sabonis, Wesley, Pangos & Bell. They are ranked #5 in the country in scoring, averaging 90 points per game. As a team they are hitting approx .400 from deep, while ranked #3 in field goal % at .548. The Zags are also ranked #3 in the nation ave. 20.2 assists per game.

Gonzaga has enough talent and depth that even if they are looking past SE Louisiana towards Arizona in the desert, this game will most likely get out of hand in a hurry. I’d expect the Zags 90 ppg scoring ave. to rise a bit. Also, Gonzaga's speed, athleticism, and defensive pressure, will in most likelihood cause this turnover prone opponent into, well, numerous turnovers.

Barring truckloads of phantom fouls, any injuries, and Flagrant 1 Bruce Lee type assaults, this game should be highly entertaining and fun. Just what the Doctor ordered leading up to the huge game against ‘Zona on Saturday. GO ZAGS!!~