SPOKANE, Wash. — The Gonzaga Bulldogs are preparing for three games in three days next week in Las Vegas.
The Bulldogs blew out Southern Utah Monday night at the McCarthey Athletic Center and took the opportunity to experiment with different rotations of players.
“I thought for the most part each of our units that we threw out there were really, really, up to the task defensively,” said coach Mark Few after the game. “And we were hitting our coverages and flying around and being very active and getting our hands on a lot of balls.”
Freshman Mario Saint-Supery started at point guard for the Bulldogs and made the most of his opportunity. He scored 16 points, dished out seven assists, and had six steals.
“I just felt like we needed to just kind of mix it up a little bit. It wasn’t based on anything other than that. Just giving some other guys a chance,” said Few.
Except for Brandon Huff and Graham Ike, Few said there is very little separation between the other players giving the Zags a very deep bench.
The Zags will be put to the test next week when they take on Alabama and then Maryland in the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas.
Monday night’s game helped boost redshirt junior Braden Huff’s confidence.
“I feel like I haven’t been playing my best and taking care of business, so it’s a fun squad to play with. I’m just glad I got back on track tonight,” Huff said following the game. Huff scored 22 points, grabbed five rebounds, and had two assists.
The Zags will need Huff’s confidence in Las Vegas. Playing three games in three days presents its own set of problems.
“These games are just boom, boom, boom, boom.” said Few “So, you know, just always moving on to the next opponent or resting.”
The Zags have the next few days to make some fine-tuning adjustments to try and get everyone on the same page.
They take on 11th ranked Alabama in the first game. The Tide is coming off a loss to top ranked Purdue and plays 8th ranked Illinois Wednesday night.
The Tide struggled to rebound against the Boilermakers. Something coach Nate Oates knows his team needs to improve upon.
“We’ve got major problems on the back part. You know, their starting front court had 24 rebounds. Our starting front court had six,” said Oates after the loss.
Gonzaga’s perimeter defense will need to be firing on all cylinders as it has been this year. Alabama scored 44 points from three-point land in the 80-87 loss to Purdue.
“Well, you know if we didn’t make those 16 threes we had no shot in this thing.” said Oates. While Alabama works to figure out its rebounding issues, the Gonzaga coaching staff is focused on making sure everyone is prepared for what the Tide will throw at them.
“You’re literally going to see every situation out there, you know, in the game situations side out of bounds, under, matchup zone, everything, you know, with no practice time,” Few said.
Gonzaga and Alabama play Monday night at 6:30pm Pacific.
COPYRIGHT 2025 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
