The Gonzaga Bulldogs will take on the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday afternoon in a marquee non-conference matchup. Gonzaga comes into this game at 5-1 and ranked 13th in the nation while Arizona comes in at 6-1 and ranked 19th in the nation.
Gonzaga has won their last two games since losing a nailbiter against Texas A&M in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals. The Bulldogs have a couple of quality wins so far this year including one over UConn but if they win this game against Arizona it might just represent their best win of the year.
The Zags might be going into this game a litle bit shorthanded as Przemek Karnowski's status is unknown due to the fact that he is dealing with back spasms. Karnowski missed Gonzaga's last game against Washington State but head coach Mark Few said the spasms have gotten a little better so we will have to wait and see if he can give it a go.
Preseason All-American Kyle Wiltjer helped offset the absence of Karnowski in Gonzaga's last game as he scored 22 points against Washington State and overall he has been great for the Bulldogs this season. Wiltjer leads the team with his 19.3 points per game and he and Domantas Sabonis still form a great frontcourt even if Karnowski can't go, although they will struggle with depth without the seven-footer.
Arizona lost a lot of talent from last years team that made it to the Elite Eight and they are still a bit of a mystery this season. The Wildcats have only lost one game but they haven't really played a difficult schedule as their best win has come against a pretty good Boise State team in their last game but they also almost lost to a winless Santa Clara team earlier in the year.
The Wildcats will be without center Kaleb Tarczewski in this game and for the next 4-6 weeks as he is dealing with mutliple injuries to his left foot. In Tarczewski's absence senior forward Mark Tollefson has been getting the starts and he has played pretty well as he is averaging eight points and 3.9 rebounds on 52 percent shooting from the field.
So far this season the Wildcats have been led by Boston College transfer Ryan Anderson who is having a tremendous start to the season for Arizona. Anderson is averaging 16 points and 10.2 rebounds per game on 52 percent from the field.
Another player to watch for the Wildcats is senior guard Gabe York who is one of the key holdovers from last years team. York struggled at the beginning of the season but the three point specialist is starting to find his stroke as he has his three point percentage up to 36 percent. York is also second on the team with 13.6 points per game.
These two teams met last year in one of the best games of the entire season, a game which Arizona won 66-63 in overtime. Overall Arizona has beaten Gonzaga in five of the six all-time matchups but none of them have taken place on Gonzaga's home court like this one will so this year the Zags come in as the favorites.
The game is set to tip offat 3:15 Eastern time and to watch the live broadcast go here. For the Gonzaga radio broadcast go here and for the Arizona radio broadcast go here.