Pre-game Report: San Francisco

The Zags get their first turn at hosting in WCC conference play this Thursday as they take on the San Francisco Dons at the Kennel. The Dons currently sit at 1-3 in conference play, having lost three in a row to Saint Mary's, USD, and BYU respectively. It's safe to say that this has been a disappointing start to the year for a program that finished third in the conference last season, and has stayed consistently near the top of the pack for the past couple years.

After graduating do-it-all swingman Cole Dickerson and losing yet another key player to transfer, in point guard Avry Holmes, USF entered the season with the difficult task of replacing the pair's significant production. Junior forward, Mark Tollefsen, has stepped up admirably and become the focal point of the offense, increasing his production across the board while improving his field goal and three point percentages. His match-up with Kyle Wiltjer should be a fun and explosive one, as both are highly skilled big men who can really fill it up from deep. The Dons, without a real paint presence on the defensive end, do a respectable job rebounding the basketball by committee. However, look for Gonzaga to really punish USF on the boards with their superior size and strength down low. Sabonis and especially Karnowski should have field days in this one as USF lacks the size in its main rotation to contain either. Starter, Kruize Pinkins, will likely get his shot at guarding Karnowski but at 6'7 he shouldn't pose much resistance. 6'10 Derrell Roberston and 6'9 Matt Christiansen should get some burn in this one just for their size, but bring little else to the table. Freshman point guard Devin Watson has seen a spike in minutes recently as he's taken over the reins of the teams offense. He's careful with the ball, rarely turning it over, but has not shot it well to start conference play. Look for Kevin Pangos to try to rattle the inexperienced freshman early, hopefully with the help of an enthusiastic and intimidating Kennel Club, and have a strong outing. Tim Derksen and Matt Glover round out the starting five for USF, and are two solid upperclassman who should match-up well on the wing with Wesley and Bell. Probably Gonzaga's greatest advantage in this contest is its bench. The drop off is quite steep from the starters to the bench for the Dons, with little production outside of the starting five.

*Editor's note: since posting this article, news has broke that McClellan injured his foot and will not be playing vs SF tonight

Vanderbilt transfer Eric McClellan will suit up for his first game of the season and should have a great opportunity to get his feet wet. For all Zag fans watching this one, I'm sure the biggest takeaway will be seeing how Few uses McClellan. After Josh Perkins had his jaw broken against Georgia, Gonzaga found itself without a reliable back up for Pangos and once again relied heavily on him to handle the ball. McClellan, who was a standout in the SEC at Vanderbilt, should at the very least help take the pressure off of Pangos, but at best could be the athletic spark plug this team needs to raise it to the level of the likes of Kentucky, Duke, Virginia, and Wisconsin this season. We already know we have a very good squad on our hands and, although it's only one game, Thursday night should give us some indication if McClellan can help make this team great.

I expect the Gonzaga's starters to come out fired up to being playing back at home again and open this one up early. Don't be surprised to see some impressive statlines from the bench guys if Gonzaga follows BYU's performance and buries San Francisco like they should.

Prediction: Gonzaga  89
                  USF         64