Two of the best teams on the West Coast will square off on Saturday when No. 15 Arizona hosts No. 6 Gonzaga.
The two schools met last season in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational, where Gonzaga won 91-74.
No. 6 Gonzaga at No. 15 Arizona: Time, TV channel, preview, prediction
Date/Time
No. 15 Arizona will host No. 6 Gonzaga on Saturday, December 14 at 10 p.m. ET.
TV channel
The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 or you can stream it on WatchESPN.
Preview
Two of the premier programs in the country, especially among those located west of the Mississippi River, will start a home-and-home series on Saturday when No. 6 Gonzaga (10-1) travels to No. 15 Arizona (9-1) and the McKale Center.
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Both schools have lost just once this season with Arizona losing a true road game at Baylor, 63-58, and Gonzaga falling to Michigan 82-64 on a neutral court in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Gonzaga and Arizona are ranked in the top 15 of the latest AP Top 25 poll. Both teams are also in the top 15 when it comes to offensive efficiency with the 'Zags boasting the No. 5 offense and the Wildcats owning the No. 13 offense, as of Wednesday afternoon.
The two programs both have a very different roster composition from last season, when Gonzaga earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and Arizona's season ended in the Pac-12 tournament.
“The guys showed that we really deserve to be a top 10 or top 5 team.”@KillianTillie joins @TheAndyKatz from the team bus after @ZagMBB’s in-state win over Washington! pic.twitter.com/TWEtaZSQpU
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) December 9, 2019
Gonzaga's 6-11 sophomore forward Filip Petrusev (15.8 ppg, 8.5 rpg) has stepped into the Bulldogs' primary scorer role after playing behind first-round NBA Draft picks Rui Hachimura and Brandon Clarke last season. Corey Kispert, Drew Timme, Joel Ayayi, Ryan Woolridge and Admon Gilder all average between nine and 14 points per game, giving Gonzaga offensive balance throughout the team.
The Bulldogs are a great rebounding team – fifth nationally in defensive rebounding and 37th in offensive rebounding – and they rank in the top 20 nationally in both effective field goal percentage and offensive turnover percentage.
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Meanwhile, the Wildcats are benefitting from an influx of talent in Tuscon with freshmen Zeke Nnaji, Nico Mannion and Josh Green ranking first, second and third, respectively, in scoring. Nnaji (16.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg), is as efficient of a scorer as there is in the country thanks to his ability to get high-percentage looks near the basket and his ability to make free throws (81.5 percent). Mannion has been able to find his teammates (he assists on one out of every three baskets that Arizona makes while he's on the floor) and Green has been an efficient scorer on the wing (111.8 offensive rating).
Arizona vs. Gonzaga: Prediction
Arizona 82, Gonzaga 80
