So, it’s the BYU Cougars’ turn to try to stop the No. 1 team in the nation, when they travel to Spokane this Thursday to face the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Do the Cougars stand a chance at a monumental upset? Or will they just be another victim for Gonzaga? Check out our preview of this game below.
The Cougars are jumping straight into the lion’s pit for their first conference game of the season, but they will be doing so on the heels of a four-game winning streak. Over that stretch, the Cougars averaged 82.0 points on 50.4 percent shooting from the floor while also hitting 34.0 percent of their threes. This Cougars team can flat out score and seems like it has the weapons to engage in a shootout with Gonzaga. BYU has also shown its toughness by beating then-18th-ranked San Diego State Aztecs on the road last December, 72-62, in which Alex Barcello dropped 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting with two 3-pointers. Barcello leads the Cougars this season with 16.9 points per game. The Cougars are averaging 76.0 points per game on 46.6 percent shooting from the field.
The under is 4-1 in BYU’s last five games as the road team.
Who’s gonna stop Gonzaga? The Bulldogs remain undefeated this season after clobbering the San Francisco Dons at home last Saturday, 85-62. However, the Dons did give Gonzaga quite a fight. It’s just that they couldn’t do it from start to finish, which is a testament to the talent and depth of the Bulldogs, who were led by Corey Kisperts’ 26 points. Kispert is the best player of Gonzaga, but he’s just one of the great talents on the team. Per KenPom, four of the five best players in the West Coast Conference are from Gonzaga: Kispert, Drew Timme, Jalen Suggs, and Joel Ayayi. Kispert is the team’s leading scorer with 21.6 points per game, while Ayayi paces Gonzaga on the glass with 8.0 rebounds per contest. The freshman Suggs is expected to go high in this year’s NBA Draft, and it shows in his all-around brilliance on the court, averaging 13.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game while shooting 53.8 percent from the field. Gonzaga is No. 1 in the nation in scoring with 95.1 points per game average and should have no problem draining baskets against BYU’s defense that’s 112th in the nation.
Gonzaga is 5-1 against the spread in its last six meetings with BYU.
