14. Gonzaga (4-0)
Our attention on Gonzaga in the early season hasn’t quite been as strong as some other years. After all, the Bulldogs are coming off a season that was still brilliant but was a down year by their own set of standards. Gonzaga did impressive work in the opening week, including a nice win against Oklahoma, but two more challenges awaited them this week and they passed those with flying colors as well.
There weren’t many struggles in their first ranked test, dispatching of Creighton 90-63 on Tuesday night. Graham Ike had his usual effort with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Braden Huff added 14 points of his own. The work was just as strong late Friday night, with the Bulldogs winning their first road test of the season in a 77-65 victory at Arizona State. Another solid game saw 20 points and 9 rebounds from Ike while Tyon Grant-Foster added a double-double off the bench.
Three straight outings against power conference foes have resulted in three straight double-digit wins for the Bulldogs. Gonzaga has spent nearly a decade’s worth of nonconference schedules to build their resume for later in the year and appear to be doing that again this year. Ike and this frontcourt look like the real deal and the defense is playing at a high level. It’s just an easy outing against Southern Utah next week but more notable games are looming.