The Gonzaga Bulldogs are aching to give Mark Few his first national title. Could this be the year for the Zags? But first, they need to get out of the first round this Thursday against the Sun Belt Conference tournament champs, Georgia State Panthers. Check out our preview below of this Gonzaga-Georgia State 2022 March Madness showdown.
Gonzaga is a team that doesn’t need much introduction. The Bulldogs are a beast in college basketball, notwithstanding a 67-57 road loss to the Saint Mary’s Gaels on Feb. 26. Gonzaga immediately bounced back from that setback and walloped the San Francisco Dons in the semifinals (81-71) before avenging its loss to Saint Mary’s by defeating the Gaels in the conference championship game, 85-63. With order restored in Spokane, the Bulldogs will look to dominate this Thursday against the lowly Panthers. The Bulldogs are being led by Drew Timme and Chet Holmgren. Both have the ability to take over the game – at the same time. That’s a scary duo to face for Georgia State, which doesn’t have good size. As a matter of fact, the Panthers are 325th in the nation in average height.
Gonzaga is 5-4-1 against the spread in its last 10 games overall.
Georgia State has made it to March Madness for the first time since 2019, thanks to the Panthers winning the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. This Panthers unit is on an absolute roll. Georgia State is on a 10-game win streak. At some point this season, the Panthers were 8-10 overall, but have turned things around and now find themselves on a collision course with arguably the best team in the nation. Georgia State has been successful this season with its defense, and the Panthers will just have to give it their all in hopes of at least slowing down Gonzaga. The Panthers are 27th in the nation in opponents’ 2-point percentage and 19th in defensive turnover rate. Corey Allen leads the team’s scoring with 14.7 points per game, while two others put up at least 11 points per outing.
Georgia State is 8-1-1 against the spread in its last 10 games overall.
