Gonzaga at BYU Preview: Big Road Test

Gonzaga has won 17 of their 18 games by double digits. Their lone single digit game came against West Virginia when Jalen Suggs missed the majority of the first half with an ankle injury. That streak may be threatened when they head to Provo on Monday night.

In their first match-up, Gonzaga handled BYU so easily that Mark Few pulled his starters up by 25 with five minutes remaining. Corey Kispert led the way with 23 points and the defense held Alex Barcello to a then season-low offensive rating. Aaron Cook did not play in that game because of a leg injury.

This time around, BYU is coming off their best performance of the season while Gonzaga is coming off their worst. The Zags struggled for 30 minutes against Pacific before pulling away late. The Cougars, on the other hand, beat Portland 105-60 on Thursday, which was the final straw for the Pilots’ administration, who fired Terry Porter this weekend. BYU has shot into the top 40 in KenPom and top 30 in the NET. A win over the Cougars would be Gonzaga’s seventh quad one victory, second most in the country.

When BYU gives up at least 50 percent shooting inside the arc, they are just 3-3. When they hold opponents to under 50 percent, they are 13-1. Gonzaga shot 56 percent from two-point range in their first meeting and have not shot below 50 percent inside the arc in any game since losing to Michigan in November of 2019. Their 64.7% clip for the season would be the best in at least the last 25 years if it holds.

Game Info

Game: Gonzaga at BYU

Time: Monday, 8 pm pacific

TV: ESPN (Dave Flemming, Sean Farnham)

KenPom: 83-73 Gonzaga