Subscribe now
Gonzaga Basketball

Former Gonzaga guard Dominick Harris ‘doubtful’ for GU-LMU rematch with knee injury

Loyola Marymount
Loyola Marymount's Dominick Harris, a transfer from Gonzaga, battles former teammate Ben Gregg (33) for a loose ball in the Zags' blowout win on Jan. 30 at the McCarthey Athletic Center. (By Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review)
By Jim Meehan jimm@spokesman.com(509) 459-5585

Former Gonzaga guard Dominick Harris has been hit by an injury bug that’s been making the rounds on the Loyola Marymount basketball team.

Harris suffered a knee injury last Wednesday in the first half of a road loss to San Diego and didn’t return. He missed Saturday’s home loss to Pepperdine and he’s “doubtful” for the Gonzaga-LMU rematch on Thursday at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles.

“Dom got hit in the back of his knee, maybe hyperextended it,” Lions coach Stan Johnson said Tuesday . “It’s doubtful right now (for Thursday). He’s kind of day to day.”

Harris was at Gonzaga for three years, seeing limited minutes in the 2021 and 2023 seasons and missing the 2022 season while recovering from foot surgery.

Harris transferred to LMU, about 90 miles from his hometown of Murrieta, California, and has emerged as LMU’s leading scorer at 14.0 points per game, despite starting only 12 of 23 contests.

The 6-foot-3 redshirt junior struggled in LMU’s 92-58 loss at the McCarthey Athletic Center two weeks ago, hitting 4 of 13 shots from the field and finishing with 11 points, all in the second half when Gonzaga was comfortably in front. Harris ranks first in 3-point percentage (43.6) and made 3s per game (2.7) and 10th in scoring in the West Coast Conference.

The Lions will be without Keli Leaupepe, a fifth-year forward. He’s dealing with plantar fasciitis and hasn’t played since late in the loss to Gonzaga. The 6-6, 240-pound Leaupepe averages 10.5 points and 5.1 rebounds in 129 career games at LMU, including 104 starts.

GU-USF likely Quad 1 matchup

Gonzaga’s matchup against San Francisco later this month looms as a big one for both squads in the WCC standings.

It also could become an important one for GU as a potential Quad 1 opportunity, as first reported by CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.

The Feb. 29 contest will be played at the Chase Center, home court of the Golden State Warriors, and will be counted as a Dons’ home game in the NCAA’s NET rankings, Gonzaga and USF spokespersons confirmed.

NET rankings serve as a primary sorting tool for selecting and seeding NCAA Tournament teams. Quad 1 is defined as a home game vs. 1-30 in the NET, neutral court vs. 1-50 and away vs. 1-75.

San Francisco was No. 65 in Tuesday’s NET rankings while the Zags were No. 24 after earning their first Quad 1 win at Kentucky on Saturday. If the GU-USF game had been considered neutral court, it would probably rank as a Quad 2 (home vs. 31-75, neutral court vs. 51-100, away vs. 76-135).

There has been some confusion because San Francisco’s November win over Minnesota was deemed a neutral site contest. Rothstein reported that according to the NCAA, the difference is the Gonzaga-San Francisco game is a WCC contest while USF-Minnesota was organized by a third-party promoter.

“They moved their home game (vs. GU to Chase Center) because of the capacity,” Gonzaga Athletic Director Chris Standiford said.

“It’ll be run 100% as a league home game. Under league rule, we had to agree to move it. That’s exactly the same thing we did for our game with Pepperdine (in the Arena on Jan. 4) and they agreed to do it.”

Gonzaga (18-6, 8-2 WCC) and USF (20-6, 9-2) trail first-place Saint Mary’s (20-6, 11-0). The top two finishers receive a bye into the WCC Tournament semifinals while the third and fourth seeds enter in the quarterfinal round at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

Saint Mary’s, No. 14 in the NET, entertains San Francisco on Tuesday and the Zags on March 2 in the regular-season finale.