KU set for Thanksgiving Day battle with No. 1 Gonzaga: ‘They are a loaded team’
Kansas and Gonzaga finished No. 1 and 2 respectively in the final Associated Press poll of the COVID-19 shortened 2019-20 men’s college basketball season.
“Our team was so good last year and was going to be one of the favorites in the tournament, no question. Gonzaga was going to be there as well,” KU coach Bill Self said of 28-3 Kansas and the 31-2 Zags — elite squads that were denied what could have been epic postseason runs.
In what could have been a rematch of the 2020 NCAA title game (had there been one), the Bulldogs of the West Coast Conference will take on the Jayhawks of the Big 12 on Thursday in the 2020-21 season opener for both teams. Tipoff for KU-Gonzaga is 12:30 p.m. Central at Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers, Florida, with a live broadcast on Fox.
“This is a loaded team,” Self said of coach Mark Few’s Bulldogs, ranked No. 1 in the AP’s preseason poll. KU is No. 6. “They are big and strong and have length. On the perimeter, their skill is off the charts. We’ll have to do something to make them play poorly. It’s awfully early in the season to be able to do that. That’s our best chance to be successful.”
The Bulldogs return Corey Kispert, a 6-7 senior first-team preseason AP All-America wing who averaged 13.9 points per game last season and is nine points shy of 1,000 for his career. Other returning players include 6-5 junior guard Joel Ayayi and 6-10 sophomore forward Drew Timme. The squad’s point guard is Jalen Suggs, a 6-4 freshman McDonald’s All-American from St. Paul, Minnesota. He was the No. 11-ranked player in the recruiting Class of 2020 by Rivals.com.
“I know about a couple of their players,” said KU senior point guard Marcus Garrett, who, on Monday, said he’d been watching film of the Bulldogs on his own prior to official scouting report film sessions with KU’s coaches.
“With Drew Timme, I know how good he is in the post. He can basically score with either hand. Kispert is a great shooter. Joel is another great shooter. And then they have the freshman point guard that just came in who’s electric,” added Garrett, a starter a year ago along with returning starter Ochai Agbaji and returning part-time starters David McCormack and Christian Braun.
“Gonzaga is always at the top of the rankings,” noted Braun, a 6-6 wing out of Blue Valley Northwest. “They’ve got a lot of people that can hurt you. They’ve got a lot of talented guys, and obviously they’re the No. 1 team in the country. That’s the spot that everybody’s going for. We’re excited to get to compete against them.”
Neither team was able to play any exhibition contests prior to this marquee matchup. NCAA rules prohibited tune-ups during the coronavirus pandemic.
Nonetheless, Garrett said he believes, “we’re ready. With Coach Self, I know he’s going to make sure that we’re ready. I just feel like as a team we’ve been talking about it and I just feel like we’re ready to play a great team.”
Self said he’d be more comfortable had the Jayhawks had “a couple of dress rehearsals, but I’m sure Mark is saying the same thing.”
The Jayhawks are used to opening the season against a rugged foe.
Last year, Duke tripped KU, 68-66, in the season-opening Champions Classic in New York. KU beat Michigan State, 92-87, to open the 2018-19 season in the Champions Classic in Indianapolis and lost to Indiana, 103-99 in overtime, to begin the 2016-17 campaign in Honolulu.
“I don’t think this is just another good team,” Self said of Gonzaga. “I do view this … when you look at Kentucky or look at Villanova, Duke, Michigan State, when you look at those teams you have to put Gonzaga in that same category of respect, talent. The most competitive games bring out the most competitive men,” Self added. “This should be one of those games.”
KU is going against a well-respected coach in Few, whose next coaching victory will be his 600th. He’s 599-124 in 21 seasons at Gonzaga.
“There are multiple reasons for his (Few’s) success — he’s driven, competitive — but there’s one that I’m not sure everybody might understand. He has balance,” Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth told the Spokane Spokesman-Review. Roth was the person who promoted Few to replace Dan Monson after the Bulldogs advanced to the Elite Eight in 1999. “That balance gives him the ability to come at this stressful, crazy business of college athletics in a way that not every coach can.
“Last year’s team was one of the favorites to win (the NCAAs). Mark handled that incredibly well and some of that is because it’s not basketball 100% every day 365 days a year. He has balance with family being his No. 1 priority,” Roth added to the Spokesman-Review.
The participants seem ready to put last season behind and focus fully on 2020-21.
“Last year is over with. I don’t think about it any more,” KU’s Garrett said, answering “oh no, not at all” when asked if this game has anything to do with bragging rights from a year ago. “No, I wouldn’t say it feels different (from past openers). I feel like we usually start the season off with a great opponent, so I think it feels kind of the same.”
KU will remain in Fort Myers to play Saint Joseph’s at 1 p.m. Friday, then meet Kentucky next Tuesday night in Indianapolis.
This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 10:13 AM with the headline "KU set for Thanksgiving Day battle with No. 1 Gonzaga: ‘They are a loaded team’."
