Stanford will test Zags

The Gonzaga Bulldogs step out of the West Coast Conference tonight to engage Stanford in a late-season showdown that features several intriguing storylines, including GU’s 35-game home-court winning streak – the nation’s longest, and Adam Morrison’s drive to become college basketball’s player of the year.

Tip-off is set for 6 at the McCarthey Athletic Center, which will also serve as headquarters for the live airing of ESPN’s popular College Game Day telecasts throughout the day.

“I think it’s great,” GU coach Mark Few said of the opportunity to showcase his fifth-ranked Zags, 19-3 overall and winners of 10 straight, against perennial Pacific-10 Conference power Stanford. “I think people, especially nationally, lose sight of how solid our conference is, how solid a lot of the teams are, how talented some of the players are and just how good some of the coaches are in our league.

“So, perceptually, it helps us to maybe step outside and play a team like Stanford, which I think is an at-large team going into the (NCAA) tournament. And, obviously, this game was set up for College Game Day, which is a huge deal no matter where you are in the country.”

The Cardinal (12-8) come in having lost 65-62 at California on Thursday. But they had won five straight and eight of their last nine prior to that, which is enough to convince Few they have overcome their early-season foibles, which led to unexpected losses to UC Irvine, Montana and UC Davis.

The Cardinal are led by senior starters Matt Haryasz, Chris Hernandez and Dan Grunfeld, who have combined to average more than 45 points a game. Haryasz, a 6-foot-11, 230-pound center, leads SU in scoring (18.8 ppg) and rebounding (8.7 rpg), and how he matches up against GU’s J.P. Batista, a 6-9, 269-pound senior, could determine the outcome of tonight’s game.

“I expect to see a team that, to me, is playing as good as anybody in that conference,” Few said. “They’re getting great contributions from a lot of different people.”