Gonzaga vs UCLA: 2023 Maui Invitational game preview, TV schedule

Another exciting matchup between these two programs; Gonzaga takes on UCLA in the fifth place game of the Maui Invitational; which team salvages a second win in Hawaii?

TV schedule: Wednesday, November 22, 11:59 pm ET. ESPN

Arena: Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii

Things look a bit different this season, but Gonzaga (3-1) still expects to compete among the best teams in the nation. Mark Few’s squad has a new look again this season, with Drew Timme now in the rearview mirror, but have gotten decent contributions from those who remain. The Bulldogs lost by double-figures to a great Purdue squad on Monday but bounced back nicely against Syracuse in the second round.

One of the biggest names to watch for the Bulldogs is junior forward Graham Ike (16.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg), the Wyoming transfer who had 16 points and 14 rebounds in that victory over the orange. Fellow junior Nolan Hickman (12.7 ppg, 3.3 apg) is taking on a bigger role this season, leading the way with 19 points on Tuesday. The point guard is Creighton transfer Ryan Nembhard (11.0 ppg, 5.3 apg), another junior who’s been a great contributor early in his career, while freshman Braden Huff (16.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg) has been electric in the frontcourt.

Gonzaga sits at #11 in the AP Top 25 poll but have worked their way back up to 8th in the KenPom rankings as of the most recent update. The Bulldogs have typically possessed one of the nation’s most elite offenses though the defense is doing their part as well this season. Now, it’s hard to know what exactly to think about this team, but they’ve got a really strong roster and we didn’t even mention Anton Watson above.

A very familiar foe awaits, with UCLA (4-1) hopes to avenge recent losses to the Bulldogs while continuing a strong start to this season. Though they’ve struggled offensively at times early in the year, the Bruins were strong out the gate and fell by just two points to Marquette late Monday night before a strong win over Chaminade in round two.

With the faces from their 2021 Final Four run all gone, it’s a few underclassmen making waves this season for the Bruins. Sophomore forward Adem Bona (16.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg) has been excellent early on while freshman guard Sebastian Mack (15.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg) just had another nice effort against the Silverswords. Other names to watch in the backcourt include Lazar Stefanovic (10.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg), a Utah transfer who just scored 13 on Tuesday and Dylan Andrews (10.0 ppg, 3.7 apg), a sophomore point guard with great potential.

Unranked so far this season, UCLA sits down at 32nd in the KenPom rankings, though they are 13th in defensive efficiency right now. You can’t judge too much from Tuesday’s matchup with Chaminade, but the Bruins almost beat a really good Marquette team and have limited their other four opponents each under 60 points this season.

This will actually be the fourth season in a row where we get a matchup between Gonzaga and UCLA and it’s been the Bulldogs prevailing to this point. These two teams both look dramatically different from some of their recent matchups and it’s easy to see that Gonzaga is in a better position at the moment. Let’s not write off a Bruins squad that went toe-to-toe with former Big East champion Marquette; we’re in for a special fifth place throw down.

With Ike and Watson and the rest of this Bulldogs rotation playing well, there’s both a talent and experience advantage for Gonzaga, but let’s not act like UCLA will struggle. The Bruins have great young talent that has already shown their value and strength in this tournament. Expect another classic between these two programs with a slight edge towards the ranked Bulldogs, but would a UCLA win be that big of an upset?

Prediction: Gonzaga 74, UCLA 70