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No. 6/7 Gonzaga (1-0) vs. Arizona State (2-0)
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 4TH | 2 p.m. | McCARTHEY ATHLETIC CENTER | SPOKANE
TV: ESPN
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE RADIO | LIVE STATISTICS

THE OPENING TIP
– Gonzaga hosts its first regular-season game at McCarthey Athletic Center on Sunday against Arizona State at 2 p.m. It will be the programs’ first-ever meeting.
– The Zags have won all 20 regular-season home openers at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
– GU has won 36 consecutive regular-season home openers since a 73-65 loss to Boise State on Dec. 7, 1988.
— The Bulldogs earned a 101-63 season-opening victory over No. 8 Baylor on Monday at Spokane Arena. Nolan Hickman scored 17 points and Graham Ike had 15 points and eight rebounds. It was Gonzaga’s largest margin of victory over a top-10 opponent in school history, the largest of any team in a season opener against a top-10 opponent in AP Poll history, and the largest victory by a team against an AP top-ranked team -10 opponents since Villanova defeated Oklahoma by 44 points in the 2016 national semifinals.
– The Zags are ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press preseason poll. GU received 1,157 points in the preseason rankings and one first-place vote.
– This is the 24th straight season Gonzaga has been ranked in the AP Poll. It’s the 15th straight year the Bulldogs have been ranked in the preseason poll and the 12th straight year they’ve started in the top 20.
– Gonzaga joins Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina as the only programs to appear in each of the final 15 preseason AP polls.
– Last season, the Bulldogs reached their ninth straight Sweet 16, the longest active streak in the country, finishing with a record of 27-8. Gonzaga was ranked 15th in the latest AP poll.
– The Zags expanded their NCAA Div. 1 record 17 consecutive seasons with at least 25 wins. With 27 straight seasons and 20 wins, GU ranks second behind the longest active streak in the country.
– Of the 12 possible players who could return from last season, 10 are returning for the 2024-25 season, including all four starters. The Bulldogs recovered 81 percent of their goals from last season and 71 percent of their rebounds.
– The Zags return six of their top seven scorers along with 81.4 percent of minutes played, marking GU’s highest retention rate in nearly 20 years. Only four other programs in the country return a higher percentage of minutes played.

Looking for the Sun Devils
– The Sun Devils opened the regular season at home with a 55-48 win over Idaho State on Tuesday. ISU’s 48 points tied for the third-fewest points scored by an opponent since 2000. Arizona State also held Idaho State to a 25.4 FG%, which was ISU’s lowest FG% since Montana’s 24.6 FG% on February 6, 2012. Three The Sun Devils finished the game with double-digit scoring, led by Alston Mason with 14 points.
– The Sun Devils defeated Santa Clara 81-74 on Friday in Las Vegas. BJ Freeman scored 17 points. Adam Miller scored 16 and freshman Jayden Quaintance had 12 rebounds.
– Quaintance is one of 20 first-time nominees for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, given annually to the best center in the country. Freeman is one of 20 players selected to the preseason watch list for the Julius Erving Award, which recognizes the best small forward in the country.
– Arizona State was ranked No. 12 out of 16 members in the Big 12 Conference preseason poll.

SERIES INFO
– Sunday marks the first-ever meeting between Gonzaga and Arizona State and the first of a home series that ends in Tempe next season.
– The Bulldogs have a 59-27 all-time record against current members of the Big 12 Conference.

NEXT
– Gonzaga welcomes UMass Lowell to the McCarthey Athletic Center for the first-ever meeting between the programs on Friday at 6 p.m.
– The River Hawks opened the season with a 115-59 win over Rivier. Six players finished with double-digit scores, led by Quinton Mincey with 20 points.
– Last season, the River Hawks nearly won the America East Conference, finishing second with a 22-10 record. It was the team’s second straight 20-win season and its third America East championship game appearance in four years.
– UMass Lowell was ranked second in this year’s America East preseason poll. The River Hawks returned three starters and were named the league’s Sixth Man of the Year. They received 55 points and one first place vote in this year’s poll. This represents the team’s best preseason finish since joining the America East.
– Fifth-year forward Max Brooks was named to the America East Preseason All-Conference Team.

A damn good start
– Gonzaga’s 101-63 regular-season opening victory over No. 8 Baylor entered the record books.
– The victory was Gonzaga’s largest win over a top-10 opponent in program history.
– The 38-point win over Baylor is the most by any team in a season opener against a top-10 opponent in AP Poll history.
– The 38-point win over Baylor is the largest win by a team against an AP Top-10 opponent since Villanova defeated Oklahoma by 44 points in the 2016 national semifinals.
– Gonzaga surpassed 100 points against a nationally ranked opponent for the first time since its 100-90 victory over Alabama on Dec. 17, 2022.
– Five Bulldogs finished the game against Baylor with double-digit points and two others scored nine points. Eleven of the twelve GU players who checked in scored a win.
– Gonzaga averaged 1.44 points per possession. Baylor hadn’t given up a total this high since 2005 against Oklahoma. The Zags jumped to the number one offense in KenPom.

A LITTLE HELP FROM THE BANK
– Gonzaga outscored Baylor 42-19 in bench points.
– NCAA Div. the last season. The leader in bench points, Cornell, averaged 36.03 per game.
– The Zags averaged 19.1 bench points per game last season and scored 40 points off the bench in four games, the most recent being Feb. 7 against Portland (42-11) and the most coming against Eastern Oregon (58-36). ) took place November 14th.
– The most Gonzaga scored against a ranked team in the last 20 seasons was 42 points.

Successful start to the season
– The Zags have now won 19 straight regular-season openers, dating back to a 73-66 loss to Saint Joseph’s in the 2003 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in New York City.
– GU has won 36 consecutive regular-season home openers since a 73-65 loss to Boise State on Dec. 7, 1988.
– Gonzaga has won all 20 regular-season home openers at the McCarthey Athletic Center and all 24 regular-season home openers below Mark Few.

A BEAR OF AN OPENER
– No. 8 Baylor was the highest-ranked team the Bulldogs opened a season with since beating No. 6/5 Kansas at Ft. defeated in 2020. Myers tip-off, 102-90.
– Gonzaga is now 2-3 all-time among ranked teams in regular-season openers. GU beat No. 6 Kansas in 2020 but fell 73-66 to No. 17 St. Joseph’s in New York City in 2003. In 2001, GU lost to No. 2 Illinois 76-58. No. 8 Kansas defeated the Zags in the 1998 regular season opener in Lawrence.

IKE AND NEMBHARD ON NATIONAL GUARD LISTS
– Graham Ike And Ryan Nembhard have been named to the Naismith Trophy preseason watch list for the 2024-25 Naismith Trophy Player of the Year.
– Ike and Nembhard are also on the John R. Wooden All-American Preseason Watch List.
– Both the Naismith and Wooden rosters contain 50 players.
– Ike was also named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ preseason watch list for the NABC Division I Player of the Year, which includes 20 players.