Scouting report: No. 8 Gonzaga vs. No. 16 Arizona

ARIZONA SCOUTING REPORT

ARIZONA:

• G Kadeem Allen
• (6-3 senior)
• G Kobi Simmons
• (6-5 freshman)
• G Rawle Alkins
• (6-5 freshman)
• F Lauri Markkanen
• (7-0 freshman)
• C Dusan Ristic
• (7-0 junior)

GONZAGA

• G
• Nigel Williams-Goss
• (6-3 junior)
• G Josh Perkins
• (6-3 junior)
• F Jordan Mathews
• (6-4 senior)
• F Johnathan Williams
• (6-9 junior)
• C Przemek Karnowski
• (7-1 senior)

HOW THEY MATCH UP

The series: The Wildcats have beaten the Zags in each of the previous three seasons in what might be the West’s premier nonconference rivalry. UA blew out a shorthanded and injury- plagued Bulldogs team in the second round of the 2014 NCAA tournament 84-61, then edged the Zags in overtime 66-63 at McKale Center the following season after Gonzaga’s Byron Wesley missed three free throws that could have sent the game into double OT. Last season, the Wildcats overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to pull out a 68-63 win in Spokane. Overall, UA is 6-1 in the series, having lost only during the 2011-12 season in Seattle.

Gonzaga overview: Seems like just about every season you can make the case that Gonzaga has its best team yet under Mark Few. But really, maybe this is it. The Zags have a little bit of everything: good size, experience, solid point guard play and three-point shooting. While Arizona can match up with their size and speed, the Zags go a solid eight deep and have five players averaging in double figures. While Gonzaga lost skilled forward Kyle Wiltjer and Domantas Sabonis to the NBA after last season, two Pac-12 transfers helped round them out: scoring-minded point guard Nigel Williams-Goss (Washington) and three-point specialist Jordan Mathews (Cal). They’ve also gotten an outside shooting boost from guard Josh Perkins, who has morphed from a 38 percent to a 48 percent shooter from outside the arc. Inside, Polish big man Przemek Karnowski, who missed last season’s UA-Gonzaga game, is a force that the Wildcats may have trouble defending.

KEY PLAYERS

Gonzaga

• Nigel Williams-Goss
• The Washington transfer can do it all, averaging more than a 2-1 assist turnover ratio while leading the Zags in scoring with an especially efficient shooting touch from 3-point range and the free-throw line.

Arizona

• Kadeem Allen
• It’s back to the grind more than ever for UA’s workhorse senior guard, who will have to run the point while trying to ward off Gonzaga’s many three-point shooters.

He said it

“They’re shooting the three much better. Williams-Goss is a much better addition to their backcourt and Mathews hit 6 of 12 threes against us (while at Cal last season). They’re a great three-point shooting team and they have Karnowski inside; he can score and pass out of the post. They have a great ball-screen and post-up offense. Williams-Goss is the total package. He can shoot threes assist, drive the ball. Killian (Tillie) and Zach Collins come off the bench. (Defensively) they play a lot more zone than they have in the past, a very aggressive zone.”

— UA associate head coach Joe Pasternack, who scouted the Bulldogs.

SIDELINES

Familiar faces

Whether it’s in the NCAA tournament, a home-and-home series or a neutral site such as the Staples Center, Arizona and Gonzaga keep managing to find each other.

This will be the fourth straight season that they’ve met, while they’ll also face each other next season in Phoenix and are both scheduled to play in the 2018 Maui Invitational.

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UA coach Sean Miller is fine with all that. In fact, he’s the one who agreed to take the Wildcats to the Gonzaga campus last season for the first time ever, returning a game the UA won at McKale Center during the 2014-15 season.

“We’re gonna continue to play Gonzaga because they’re one of the best programs in college basketball,” Miller said. “To have the opportunity year in and year out to play against them in a true away game or a neutral game makes a lot of sense, especially if you consider who they are in the West.

“I admire the program, the coach, and I love their team this year. … You have to admire every single thing about their program on the court, off the court, their tradition, the quality of players they are able to maintain year in and year out.”

Miller said it was also important to play Gonzaga in Los Angeles, a city that’s “really important to our program’s history” (and traditionally a big UA recruiting ground).

“And on national television, that’s the type of games you want to play in at Arizona,” Miller said. “But they can also run you completely out of the city of L.A. if you’re not ready to go because of how great they are.”

Returning the praise

If it isn’t already obvious by their willingness to schedule each other that Miller and Gonzaga’s Mark Few have some mutual respect and a coaching friendship, Few chipped in with a few words of his own during a Basketball Hall of Fame publicity call earlier this week.

“We’ve had a great series and relationship with the University of Arizona,” Few said. “I can’t think of probably another program I have more respect for. And there’s not a head coach I have more respect for than Sean. The job he’s done at Arizona has been one of the more amazing building and sustaining projects. Because when he took over he followed a Hall of Fame guy in Lute (Olson) and that’s not an easy situation.

“Once again, they’re right up near the top in the college basketball landscape and we’ve had some great games with them the last couple of years. We ended up on the short end so hopefully maybe we can turn that around.”

Upgraded

For all the success Gonzaga has had for nearly two decades now, it wasn’t until this season that the Zags lost two guys at the same time who made an NBA opening-night roster.

And even this year, it wasn’t a sure thing that both Sabonis and Wiltjer would make the NBA.

Sabonis was drafted 11th and is averaging 21.7 minutes for Oklahoma City, but Wiltjer had to make it via the free-agent route.

Wiltjer wasn’t drafted but signed with the Rockets and made the team’s opening roster. He was sent down to the D-League Rio Grande Valley Vipers for five games last month but is currently back with Houston.

“We’re really proud of what Kyle and Domas have been able to do,” Few said. “But also I’m happy and very pleased with the new guys we have stepping in.”

Numbers game

2 of Gonzaga’s four 7-0 starts have ended with losses to Arizona, in 2014-15 (at McKale Center) and 2008-09 (in Phoenix).

4 Arizona wins in nine games under Miller at Staples Center, where UA lost in the finals of the 2011 and 2012 Pac-10/12 Tournaments, the 2013 NCAA Sweet 16 and the 2015 Elite Eight.

6 Lauri Markkanen’s standing among top 3-point shooters in the Pac-12 so far (46.9 percent).

— Bruce Pascoe