10:00 PM EST (NCAAB) - BYU VS. GONZAGA PREVIEW AND FREE PICKS
Time: 10:00 P.M. EST As Gonzaga looks to complete a historic run through the West Coast Conference, it's also preparing itself for the rigors of the upcoming postseason. Looking to extend their school-record winning streak to 23 games, the third-ranked Bulldogs try to become the first team to go 18-0 in the West Coast Conference on Saturday night when they host surging BYU. Having already clinched a third straight WCC title, Gonzaga (29-1, 17-0) is treating the final week of the regular season as a tuneup for tournament play while trying to bolster its chances of earning a No. 1 NCAA tournament seed. Overcoming a sluggish first half to win 59-39 over a plodding San Diego team on Thursday, the Bulldogs now host a BYU squad that leads the nation at 84.4 points per game''What we've tried to do is take this weekend and say this is similar to what the first weekend of the NCAAs is going to be like,'' said coach Mark Few, whose team is trying to go undefeated in the WCC for the fifth time and first since the league expanded to 10 teams last season." You might play a team with a low possession the first time out and then 36 hours later play someone who wants to run up and down and pressure all over the floor," he added. "We have to be ready for everything.'' Few doesn't seem too concerned that the Bulldogs have shot worse than 45 percent during the first half in three of their seven February games, including 8 of 21 on Thursday. That's because they've shot 55.4 percent in the second half this month. Despite making a season-low three 3-pointers and recording their second-lowest point total, they went 16 of 26 in the final 20 minutes against the Toreros." I think they're fine," said Few, whose team leads the nation with a 52.7 field-goal percentage. "Most games don't look that pretty in late February." Looking to extend the nation's longest home winning streak to 42, Gonzaga now faces a team on the complete opposite end of the offensive spectrum in BYU (22-8, 12-5)." Definitely a good challenge for us this week but I think everybody is looking forward to it," said Gonzaga guard Byron Wesley, who had 12 points and seven rebounds Thursday. Though the Cougars have won a season-high five in a row, they've lost seven of eight against the Bulldogs, including all three at the McCarthey Athletic Center by an average of 15.3 points. Kyle Wiltjer scored 24, Kevin Pangos added 21 and Wesley had 15 points with 10 boards in Gonzaga's 87-80 win at BYU on Dec. 27. Third in the country at 22.3 points per game, BYU's Tyler Haws scored 17 in that contest - his third-lowest total in league play. The senior guard's 33.3 percent shooting effort was his lowest against a league opponent this season. Haws, who has averaged 16.0 points and shot 37.5 percent in six games versus Gonzaga, passed Jimmer Fredette as the school's all-time scoring leader with 21 points in Thursday's 82-69 win at Portland." To break a record like that it's a pretty special thing," said Haws, who has 2,614 career points. Pangos has averaged 18.0 points and gone 12 of 23 from 3-point range in the three home games versus BYU. He scored 24 in last season's 84-69 win there.
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Time: 10:00 P.M. EST As Gonzaga looks to complete a historic run through the West Coast Conference, it's also preparing itself for the rigors of the upcoming postseason. Looking to extend their school-record winning streak to 23 games, the third-ranked Bulldogs try to become the first team to go 18-0 in the West Coast Conference on Saturday night when they host surging BYU. Having already clinched a third straight WCC title, Gonzaga (29-1, 17-0) is treating the final week of the regular season as a tuneup for tournament play while trying to bolster its chances of earning a No. 1 NCAA tournament seed. Overcoming a sluggish first half to win 59-39 over a plodding San Diego team on Thursday, the Bulldogs now host a BYU squad that leads the nation at 84.4 points per game''What we've tried to do is take this weekend and say this is similar to what the first weekend of the NCAAs is going to be like,'' said coach Mark Few, whose team is trying to go undefeated in the WCC for the fifth time and first since the league expanded to 10 teams last season." You might play a team with a low possession the first time out and then 36 hours later play someone who wants to run up and down and pressure all over the floor," he added. "We have to be ready for everything.'' Few doesn't seem too concerned that the Bulldogs have shot worse than 45 percent during the first half in three of their seven February games, including 8 of 21 on Thursday. That's because they've shot 55.4 percent in the second half this month. Despite making a season-low three 3-pointers and recording their second-lowest point total, they went 16 of 26 in the final 20 minutes against the Toreros." I think they're fine," said Few, whose team leads the nation with a 52.7 field-goal percentage. "Most games don't look that pretty in late February." Looking to extend the nation's longest home winning streak to 42, Gonzaga now faces a team on the complete opposite end of the offensive spectrum in BYU (22-8, 12-5)." Definitely a good challenge for us this week but I think everybody is looking forward to it," said Gonzaga guard Byron Wesley, who had 12 points and seven rebounds Thursday. Though the Cougars have won a season-high five in a row, they've lost seven of eight against the Bulldogs, including all three at the McCarthey Athletic Center by an average of 15.3 points. Kyle Wiltjer scored 24, Kevin Pangos added 21 and Wesley had 15 points with 10 boards in Gonzaga's 87-80 win at BYU on Dec. 27. Third in the country at 22.3 points per game, BYU's Tyler Haws scored 17 in that contest - his third-lowest total in league play. The senior guard's 33.3 percent shooting effort was his lowest against a league opponent this season. Haws, who has averaged 16.0 points and shot 37.5 percent in six games versus Gonzaga, passed Jimmer Fredette as the school's all-time scoring leader with 21 points in Thursday's 82-69 win at Portland." To break a record like that it's a pretty special thing," said Haws, who has 2,614 career points. Pangos has averaged 18.0 points and gone 12 of 23 from 3-point range in the three home games versus BYU. He scored 24 in last season's 84-69 win there.
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