SALT LAKE CITY — The Gonzaga men’s basketball team will begin their quest for a championship this week with an opening round game against McNeese State.
The Zags earned a #5 seed and will open the NCAA Tournament against #12 McNeese State (30-3). The game will be played at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday.
Gonzaga had an up and down year but finished winning nine in a row before dropping the WCC Championship game to Saint Mary’s.
McNeese State is located in Lake Charles, Louisiana. McNeese won the Southland Conference Tournament to punch their ticket to the Big Dance. The team went 30-3 overall and 17-1 in conference. This will be the first time since 2002 that the Cowboys are playing in the NCAA tournament.
Game time, channel, and how to watch
For those of you wondering what channel the Gonzaga-McNeese St. game is on, here are the details.
The #5 Gonzaga Bulldogs vs. the #12 McNeese Cowboys NCAA Tournament basketball game starts at 4:25 on Thursday, March 21. The game will be played at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The game will air nationally on TBS. The game will also stream online via TBS, though a subscription is needed for full access. Streaming of all games is also available through NCAA.com, but a cable subscription may be required.
Bulldogs vs Cowboys
Thursday’s matchup between Gonzaga and McNeese will be the first time the two teams have played each other in basketball.
Gonzaga’s leading scorer is Graham Ike who averages over 16 points per game. In addition to Ike, Anton Watson, Nolan Hickman and Ryan Nembhard all average double digit points for Gonzaga.
McNeese’s leading scorer is Shahada Wells who averages nearly 18 points per game. In addition to Wells, the Cowboys have Christian Shumate, Javohn Garcia and DJ Richards Jr who average double digit points per game.
The Cowboys average just over 80 points per game while only giving up just over 61 points per game. Gonzaga averages just about 85 points per game while holding their opponents to 69 points per game. It will be key for Gonzaga to get consistent scoring throughout the game against the stingy McNeese defense.
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Gonzaga men’s basketball schedule
- Nov. 10: Gonzaga vs. Yale (W 86-71)
- Nov. 14: Gonzaga vs. Eastern Oregon (W 123-57)
- Nov. 20: Gonzaga vs. Purdue (L 63-73)
- Nov. 21: Gonzaga vs. Syracuse (W 76-57)
- Nov. 22: Gonzaga vs. UCLA (W 69-65)
- Nov. 28: Gonzaga vs. CSU Bakersfield (W-81-65)
- Dec. 2: Gonzaga vs. USC (W 89-76)
- Dec. 5: Gonzaga vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (W 111-71)
- Dec. 9: Gonzaga at Washington (L 73-78)
- Dec. 11: Gonzaga vs. Mississippi Valley State (W 78-40)
- Dec. 15: Gonzaga vs. Connecticut (L 76-63)
- Dec. 20: Gonzaga vs. Jackson State (W 100-76)
- Dec. 29: Gonzaga vs. San Diego State (L 84-74)
- Jan. 4: Gonzaga vs. Pepperdine (W 86-60)
- Jan. 6: Gonzaga vs. San Diego (W 101-74)
- Jan. 11: Gonzaga at Santa Clara (L 77-76)
- Jan. 18: Gonzaga at Pepperdine (W 86-61)
- Jan. 20: Gonzaga at San Diego (W 105-63)
- Jan. 25: Gonzaga vs. San Francisco (W 77-72)
- Jan. 27: Gonzaga at Pacific (W 82-73)
- Jan. 30: Gonzaga vs. Loyola Marymount (W 92-58)
- Feb. 3: Gonzaga vs. Saint Mary's (L 64-62)
- Feb. 7: Gonzaga vs. Portland (W 96-64)
- Feb 10: Gonzaga at Kentucky (W 89-85)
- Feb. 15: Gonzaga at Loyola Marymount (W 91-74)
- Feb. 17: Gonzaga vs. Pacific (W 102-76)
- Feb. 22: Gonzaga at Portland (W 86-65)
- Feb. 24: Gonzaga vs. Santa Clara (W 94-81)
- Feb. 29: Gonzaga at San Francisco (W 86-68)
- Mar. 2: Gonzaga at Saint Mary's (W 70-57)
- Mar. 11: Gonzaga vs. San Francisco (W 89-77)
- Mar. 12: Gonzaga vs. Saint Mary's (L 69-60)
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