Gonzaga’s loaded early season schedule won’t allow much time to either celebrate or console
Fri., Nov. 4, 2022
Gonzaga shouldn’t fret about losing to a high-major opponent over the next month or two if for no other reason than they’ll probably be getting a crack at another a handful of days later.
Between Nov. 11 and Dec. 2, the Bulldogs won’t go more than five days between games against high-major teams, playing six during that stretch and seven total during one of the most rigorous nonconference slates in program history.
The demanding three-week stretch begins with a Nov. 11 game against Michigan State – a team receiving AP Top 25 votes – on a flight deck at the USS Abraham Lincoln in San Diego. Malik Hall was one of 11 players named to the preseason All-Big Ten team.
The Bulldogs will be back in Spokane for a matter of days before going back on the road to play No. 12 Texas on Nov. 16. The game will be just the third at the Longhorns’ new arena, the Moody Center.
Four days after that, No. 2 Gonzaga will face No. 4 Kentucky in one of the most anticipated nonconference matchups of the 2022-23 college basketball season. Fans will be glued to the individual battle between the Bulldogs’ Drew Timme and Wildcats’ Oscar Tshiebwe, considered to the frontrunners for national player of the year honors.
Gonzaga’s four-day, three-game stop at the PK85 Invitational will pit the Bulldogs against either Purdue or West Virginia in a second-round matchup, then Duke, Florida, Xavier or Oregon State on the final day of the Thanksgiving week tournament held in Portland.
There won’t be much time to breathe before GU travels to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to play No. 5 Baylor on Dec. 2 in a rematch of the 2021 national championship game. The Bears are led by preseason All-Big 12 selection Adam Flagler and top-10 national recruit Keyonte George.
The Zags renew their in-state rivalry with Washington on Dec. 9 in Spokane before traveling to Birmingham for a Dec. 17 matchup with No. 20 Alabama. The Crimson Tide, who return guard Jahvon Quinerly, handed the Bulldogs one of their three regular-season losses when the teams met last December in Seattle.
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