DENVER — As we know, Gonzaga earned a three seed in the West Region and will face 14th seeded Grand Canyon. Everyone expects Gonzaga to win. But, this is March Madness, and anything can happen.
"We can't take games for granted. We can't just come in, you know, thinking we're the best team, you know, we're just gonna go on and win easily because they had to fight to get here," said senior guard Rasir Bolton. "You know, they did some pretty miraculous stuff to get to this point, and I'm sure they're not coming here just to lay down and lose. So, we definitely got to lock in."
"They're experienced. And again, they're hungry, Right. I mean, you know, I think they've been hearing about and watching and seeing Gonzaga over all these years. So I mean, obviously they are hungry to knock us off. So that's a dangerous combination," said Gonzaga head coach Mark Few.
"I feel like our mentality is, you know, similar to the mentality that we've had this entire year. You know, we know who they are, but we know who we are as well. So we're just excited," said Grand Canyon sophomore guard Ray Harrison.
The key for Gonzaga in this matchup will be slowing down the Lopes guards, three of which are averaging double-figures a game. The star of them all is Ray Harrison who is averaging 17.7 points per game.
"He's kind of the engine of their team. He can do a lot of great things," said redshirt junior guard Malachi Smith. "We've played a lot of great guards throughout the year. So, you don't have to try to you know, do anything different or spectacular. We just have to play, you know, play our game."
An interesting note for this matchup. Grand Canyon's flight out to Denver didn't have all their luggage on it originally. So, they were without all of their basketball equipment. Something the Lopes have made the most of.
"It actually worked out. It was good for us because everybody got a new pair of shoes. So it was good," said Harrison with a laugh.
Gonzaga and Grand Canyon tip-off at 4:35 pacific time on Friday at Ball Arena in Denver.
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