MBB opens Battle 4 Atlantis with West Virginia

THE OPENING TIP
– Gonzaga opens the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis 2024 against West Virginia at 11:30 a.m. Pacific time on Wednesday at Imperial Arena on Paradise Island, Bahamas.
– In their last game, Graham Ike And Khalif battle Each had 15 points as the No. 3 Bulldogs defeated Long Beach State 84-41. Ryan Nembhard added 10 points and seven assists. GU’s bench delivered 32 points, 12 of which came from the field Braden Huff and 10 of Dusty Stromer. LBSU was held to 31.5 percent shooting from the field.
– The Bulldogs shot 27 of 31 from the free throw line in a win at San Diego State. The last time Gonzaga shot 85 percent with 30 or more free throw attempts was on January 16, 2020 against Santa Clara. The last time GU accomplished this on the road was January 5, 2013 at Santa Clara.
– The Zags haven’t trailed since the 7:21 mark of the second half against Arizona State (69-67) on Nov. 10. GU did not trail in the final 126 minutes and 27 seconds of the game.
– Ryan Nembhards Purdue’s Braden Smith’s 47 assists are tied for the most in the nation through five games. With 9.4 assists per game, Nembhard ranks third nationally. The senior has six turnovers. He ranks 10th nationally with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 7.83.

Looking for the mountaineers
– West Virginia is off to a 3-1 start to the season, winning three home games and losing at Pittsburgh.
– In its last game, WVU picked up an 86-43 win over Iona on Wednesday. Four Mountaineers reached double figures, led by Javon Small with 23 points. He made five three-pointers and added five assists and four steals. Amani Hansberry had 10 points and nine rebounds. WVU made 15 of 31 from three-point range. The Mountaineers forced 21 turnovers and limited Iona’s shooting percentage from the field to 23.7 percent.
– Small is averaging a team-best 15.5 points per game, as well as 4 assists and three steals per game.
– Tucker DeVries adds 13.5 points and Jonathan Powell scores 12 points per game.
— West Virginia begins its first year under new head coach Darian DeVries, who led Drake to six straight 20-win seasons. The Mountaineers were 9-23 last season, including 4-14 in the Big 12 Conference, but are bringing in an almost entirely new roster under DeVries.

SERIES INFO
– Gonzaga is 5-0 all-time against WVU.
– In the last meeting, then-ranked GU defeated the No. 11 Mountaineers 87-82 at the 2020 Jimmy V Classic in Indianapolis.
– In 2017, the Bulldogs won a thrilling Sweet 16 matchup against WVU in San Jose, California. GU’s Jordan Mathews hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with less than a minute to play and top-seeded Gonzaga survived to defeat No. 4 seed West Virginia 61-58 to advance to the West Regional final and ultimately the program’s first Final Four.
– The Zags won their first-ever meeting 77-54 in the second round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The seventh-seeded Zags earned the victory over 10th-seeded WVU, shooting 56 percent from the field (63.6% in the second half).
– Gonzaga won 84:50 at home in the second meeting on November 12, 2012.
– The following season, GU visited West Virginia and defeated the Mountaineers 80-76 on December 10, 2013.
– The Bulldogs have two wins this season against Big 12 Conference members Baylor and Arizona State. Gonzaga has won its last four games against current members of the Big 12 and 15 of the last 17. Baylor suffered both setbacks in 2021 and 2023.

NEXT
– With a win, Gonzaga would face winner No. 16 Indiana and Louisville in the semifinals Thursday at 9 a.m. Pacific time on ESPN.
– If GU falls, it would face the non-advancing team Indiana-Louisville on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. Pacific time on ESPN2.

THANK YOU FOR THESE EVENTS
– Gonzaga is 46-13 under Mark Few at events during Thanksgiving week and 35-7 at the last 10 events of Thanksgiving week.
– Under Mark FewGU won seven tournaments and played in 11 of them during Thanksgiving week
the 17 tournament championship games.
– Last season at the Maui Invitational, the Bulldogs fell to eventual champion Purdue in the quarterfinals before picking up wins over Syracuse and UCLA.

BACK TO THE BAHAMAS
– Gonzaga will be part of a loaded field in Battle 4 Atlantis 2024. The Zags join Arizona, Providence, Davidson, Indiana University, Louisville, Oklahoma and West Virginia.
– In the 2019 event, the Zags fell to Michigan in the tournament championship game after defeating Southern Mississippi and Oregon.
– Gonzaga won two of its three games in the 2015 Battle 4 Atlantis, beating Washington and losing to Texas
A&M and then beat UConn for third place.

SHARING IS CARING
– Ryan Nembhards He ranks third in the nation with 9.7 assists per game after dishing out 47 assists (first in the nation) with just six turnovers in the first five games.
– He ranks 10th nationally with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 7.83.
– Gonzaga ranks second nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.38. The Zags are at the top of the West Coast Conference with 19 assists per game.

TAKE CARE OF THE ROCK
– The Bulldogs turn the ball over just eight times per game, which ranks second nationally.
– After committing 11 turnovers in its season-opening win over Baylor, GU posted single-digit turnovers in each of its last four games.
– Gonzaga had four turnovers in its win over Long Beach State. The Zags’ second-fewest in the last six seasons. (three turnovers, San Francisco on 3/11/24)
– The Bulldogs are second nationally with a turnover percentage of 11.2. Toledo ranks first with 10.8 percent.

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