SAN DIEGO — Mark Few preferred what he noticed unfold at San Diego State’s Viejas Area when his No. 3 Gonzaga Bulldogs made their first foray exterior of Spokane this season.
A double-digit victory in a packed, loud area. Toughness from a deep, skilled lineup that after once more is pushed to win an elusive nationwide championship. And, peeking a couple of seasons forward, he noticed an SDSU workforce that he views extra as a future Pac-12 companion than rival.
Behind large man Graham Ike and guard Ryan Nembhard, Gonzaga displayed its dimension, pace and energy in beating Brian Dutcher’s younger, hobbled squad 80-67 on Monday evening. The Bulldogs returned the favor after SDSU gained 84-74 final December at The Kennel in Spokane, which ended their 59-game nonconference successful streak.
Each groups reached the Candy Sixteen final season. Gonzaga is the one workforce within the nation to achieve the Candy Sixteen the final 9 seasons because the Bulldogs prolonged their streak of NCAA Event appearances to 25 straight.
Again in Spokane on Wednesday evening, the Zags improved to 5-0 by routing Lengthy Seashore State 84-41, little question firing up expectations within the Lilac Metropolis and past.
In a university sports activities local weather dominated by NIL and the switch portal, the Zags are stacked.
Of the 12 attainable gamers who may return from final yr, 10 did, together with all 4 starters. They returned 81% of final season’s scoring and 71% of their rebounding. Six of its prime seven scorers are again, together with 81.4% of minutes performed.
“We’re tougher,” Few mentioned. “We’re bodily more durable, we’re mentally more durable, no less than thus far within the season. A variety of the identical guys from final yr. That’s what occurs whenever you stick round a few years.
“You’ve got to have both to be able to go on the road in a place like this and dig out wins,” Few added. “That’s one thing San Diego State is going to bring. They’re going to bring physicality, they’re going to bring great athleticism, they’re going to challenge you in every facet of the game.”
Hoops powerhouse Gonzaga introduced on Oct. 1 that it’ll transfer from the West Coast Convention, the place it has dominated for a lot of the final quarter-century, right into a Pac-12 convention being rebuilt round soccer.
Starting with the 2026-27 tutorial yr, Gonzaga will grow to be the eighth member together with holdovers Washington State and Oregon State, and fellow newcomers Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State, Utah State and Colorado State from the Mountain West.
Whereas not as dominant because the Zags, the Aztecs have been one of many West Coast’s finest packages for a number of years, first below Steve Fisher after which Dutcher, his longtime assistant who’s in his eighth season as head coach.
“They’re just going to be such a great partner, because they value basketball and they support basketball,” mentioned Few, who’s in his twenty sixth season as head coach. “They understand, when you have a national program like we both have, it pays unbelievable dividends to the university, to the community, to the city and the state, like the Northwest and down here. They get that. We’re looking for other like-minded places to partner with us.”
Few mentioned he would typically chat with Fisher about the potential of the Zags and Aztecs enjoying in the identical convention. Fisher watches Aztecs video games together with his spouse, Angie, from the second row above Steve Fisher Courtroom.
“We talked about it forever,” Few mentioned. “I’m happy for Dutch. He’s doing a great job.”
San Diego State reached its first Remaining 4 in 2023, when Lamont Butler’s thrilling buzzer-beater in opposition to Florida Atlantic lifted the Aztecs into the nationwide championship recreation, the place they misplaced 76-59 to UConn. SDSU was routed once more by UConn, 82-52, in final season’s Candy Sixteen, whereas Gonzaga misplaced to Purdue.
Gonzaga opened this season with a 101-63 win in opposition to then-No. 8 Baylor on the Spokane Area. It was Gonzaga’s greatest victory margin over a top-10 opponent, over a workforce it misplaced to within the 2021 nationwide title recreation in Indianapolis.
Nembhard, who had 19 factors and 10 assists in opposition to the Aztecs, mentioned the Zags “did a really good job, actually,” of dealing with the stress of enjoying at Viejas Area. “Every time they went on a little run and the crowd got loud, we did a good job staying composed and trusting our offensive sets.”
Nembhard might be gone when the Bulldogs and Aztecs are within the Pac-12 collectively, however thinks “the rivalry will be great. This is a great program. I played them a couple of times at Creighton, and they always gave us a tough game. They have a great fan base, a great coach over there, and they play really hard. I think it’ll be a great rivalry to come.”