San Francisco Basketball: 2018-19 keys for the Dons to beat Gonzaga

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 04: Head coach Kyle Smith of the San Francisco Dons argues an official's call during a quarterfinal game of the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament against the Santa Clara Broncos at the Orleans Arena on March 4, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

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LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 05: Chase Foster #22 of the San Francisco Dons shoots against Johnathan Williams #3 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs during a semifinal game of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on March 5, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Bulldogs won 88-60. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

San Francisco Basketball has an incredible opportunity this weekend to beat the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Here are the biggest keys for the Dons to do just that.

With most of the roster coming back from another successful season under head coach Kyle Smith, San Francisco Basketball was looking for another top finish in the WCC. Now, they’re looking for even more than that.

The Dons are off to their best start in 27 years with a 14-2 record, with wins over Harvard, Stanford and Cal included. In fact, had they not lost their non-conference finale to UC Santa Barbara, the WCC could very well have two ranked teams right now.

Speaking of the WCC, there are only two teams left without a loss in conference play. One of them is San Francisco, with the other being the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Ranked No. 5 in the country, Gonzaga once again is a national title contender this season. They defeated previously ranked No. 1 Duke Blue Devils in the Maui Invitational and just got back both Killian Tillie and Geno Crandall, two key pieces that were injured.

This is more about fighting for first place in the WCC. San Francisco has legitimate at-large hopes at this present time, and a win over the Bulldogs would be the signature victory for them.

Outside of BYU and Saint Mary’s, the Dons have been the toughest team for Gonzaga. They even beat them on a regular basis at the start of the decade before the Bulldogs took their program to another level. But even then, playing at War Memorial Gymnasium has been a challenge for Mark Few’s’ team.

To be clear, San Francisco is a sizeable underdog – both physically and in Vegas. But we’ve seen bigger upsets occur in college basketball. Here are the keys to the Dons doing that this Saturday.