OUTLOOK First round: Defeated Louisville, 77-66
Second round: Defeated St. John's, 82-76
Sweet 16: Lost to Purdue, 75-66
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Let the experts at Coach's Edge get you ready for the NCAA Tournament with an inside look at the Gonzaga playbook: Play 1 | Play 2 |
Last year's darling, Gonzaga brings back almost the same personnel. The key players -- Matt Santangelo, Richie Frahm, Casey Calvary -- return, but injuries have shortened the Bulldogs' bench.
Losing senior guard Mike Nilson to a torn Achilles tendon means Gonzaga is down one shooter and without their best backcourt defender. Santangelo's offense has suffered a bit since taking over point-guard duties from the departed Quentin Hall, but he's still a dangerous shooter. Frahm, when hot, can shoot down any team. Ryan Floyd replaces Nilson, and can strech defenses with his outside shot (like just about everyone on this team).
Calvary, Axel Dench, Mark Spink and Zach Gourde are Gonzaga's bangers. Calvary showed off a deft scoring touch in the WCC tourney, hitting for 22 and 28 points in back-to-back games. The rest aren't there for their offense. But with Santangelo, Frahm and the rest bombing from outside, somebody needs to sweep the glass and play tough defense.
If the shooters are cold, this team turns beatable very quickly. Also, Gonzaga won't sneak up on anyone this time around. That being said, this is still a very dangerous team. Blink and you could find yourself down by 15 thanks to a barrage of 3-pointers. -- Greg Collins, ESPN.com
ROSTER
PROBABLE STARTERS |
F -- Casey Calvary (6-8, Jr., 13.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.0 apg)
F -- Richie Frahm (6-5, Sr., 16.8, 4.2, 2.5)
C -- Axel Dench (6-11, Sr., 9.1, 4.9, 1.3)
G -- Ryan Floyd (6-1, Sr., 6.0, 3.3, 1.8)
G -- Matt Santangelo (6-1, Sr., 12.9, 3.9, 6.5)
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TOP RESERVES |
F -- Zach Gourde (6-8, Fr., 8.2, 3.5, 0.8)
F -- Mark Spink (6-8, Jr., 6.3, 4.0, 0.5)
G -- Mike Nilson (6-5, Sr., 3.3, 4.2, 1.7)
G -- Jimmy Tricco (6-5, Fr., 2.0, 0.8, 0.5)
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NOTABLE
Seed, Region and Bid: 10, West, Automatic
Total NCAA Tournament Bids: 3
NCAA Tournament Record: 3-2 (.600)
Final Four Appearances: 0
NCAA Tournament Championships: 0
Best NCAA Tournament Finish: Regional finals (1999)
Final ESPN/USA Today ranking: NR
Final Associated Press ranking: NR
Final Ratings Percentage Index: 35
Final Sagarin Computer Ranking: 26
RECORD VS. RANKED TEAMS (1-3)
Dec. 4 -- Lost to No. 1 Cincinnati, 75-68
Dec. 8 -- Lost to No. 18 Temple, 64-48
Dec. 11 -- Beat No. 11 UCLA, 59-43
Dec. 29 -- Lost to Oregon, 70-64
(Opponents ranking reflects ranking on game day)
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Overall Record: 3-2 (.600)
1999--Tenth seed in West Region
Defeated Minnesota in first round, 75-63
Defeated Stanford in second round, 82-74
Defeated Florida in regional semifinal, 73-72
Lost to Connecticut in regional final, 67-62
1995--Fourteenth seed in West Region
Lost to Maryland in first round, 87-63
Record by Region:
In East: 0-0 (.000)
In South/Southeast: 0-0 (.000)
In Midwest: 0-0 (.000)
In West: 3-1 (.750)
Record by Seed:
As a 10th seed: 3-0 (1.000)
As a 14th seed: 0-1 (.000)
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