No. 7 Gonzaga aims to match best start in school history (Dec 21, 2016)
No. 7 Gonzaga will look to equal its best start in school history, a 12-0 record in 1944, when the Bulldogs host South Dakota on Wednesday night.
The 11-0 start for Mark Few's team is already the best since the program joined the NCAA for the 1958-59 season, topping the 9-0 mark of 2012-13.
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes, whose team lost to Gonzaga 86-76 in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday said the Bulldogs have a shot at running the table in the regular season.
"I think he's got as good a team as he's ever had," Barnes said of Few. "I think he's going to become an even bigger story in college basketball because if you look ahead, he's always done tremendous things with his team in the league and he could be the first time in a long time that you've got a team capable of being undefeated heading into postseason play."
No. 19 Saint Mary's and traditionally tough opponent BYU in the West Coast Conference might have a say in that, but for now, Few is concentrating on ending the nonconference portion of the schedule feeling good about his team.
Entering the Tennessee game on Sunday, Gonzaga hadn't played since beating Akron Dec. 10. The Bulldogs but looked strong as they scored the first eight points and never trailed. They led 27-6 on a jumper by forward Zach Collins with 12:06 left, 43-29 at halftime and 64-48 midway through the second half.
"I thought they did good, especially the way we started the first half," Few said. "Usually when you come out of finals like this, you're a little bit concerned about losing rhythm. We had some pretty good rhythm going into finals. Gave them several days off, I was a little bit worried about that. They responded."
South Dakota (9-5) of the Summit League is that last nonconference obstacle. The Coyotes are off to their best start since joining Division I for the 2008-09 campaign. They have lost in true road games to Nebraska and Portland, but they were competitive in each.
The Coyotes lost 73-61 in Lincoln, Neb., after cutting a 26-4 deficit to two points in the second half. They were defeated 85-82 at Portland last Friday on a last-second 3-point shot.
Two days after that setback, South Dakota regrouped to defeat Montana State 80-68 in Bozeman, Mont., scoring 20 unanswered points as part of a 25-3 run. Former Air Force guard Matt Mooney, a sophomore, scored a career-high 28 points and junior guard Trey Dickerson, formerly of Iowa, added a career-high 14 points.
The victory snapped a five-game losing streak away from South Dakota. The Coyotes are finishing a stretch of three road games in six days.
"Shout out to our whole squad," Dickerson said. "Happy to get on a (winning) streak now. Gonzaga next. Love my squad. Great way to bounce back on the road (rallying to beat Montana State)."
Mooney (14.7 points a game) leads four Coyotes who are averaging in double digits.
Gonzaga will have a decided size advantage with South Dakota starting nobody taller than 6-foot-7. The Bulldogs will counter with 7-1, 300-pound center Przemek Karnowski, who averages 12.2 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game.
The Bulldogs also have 6-9 power forward Johnathan Williams (shooting 57.7 percent from the field), Collins, a 7-foot reserve center (leads the WCC by shooting 69.2 percent) and 6-10 reserve power forward Killian Tillie (4.0 rebounds per game).
