Xavier Musketeers

Julius Halaifonua, a 7-foot, 290-pound center, is on Gonzaga’s radar in the 2025 recruiting class.

Tribune News Service

Gonzaga (14-3, 3-0 West Coast Conference) climbed one position to No. 8 in Monday’s latest rankings, thanks to a pair of suspenseful road wins over San Francisco and Santa Clara.

Sean Miller has a new job, but he remains a fan of Arizona basketball, the current and former players he recruited to Tucson and his successor Tommy Lloyd.

In our latest Gonzaga rewind, we take a look at the factors behind Julian Strawther’s performance, a second half shootout that produced a combined 98 points by the two teams and Ben Gregg earning additional minutes.

Gonzaga’s double-digit loss to Purdue on Friday dropped the Zags eight spots to No. 14 in the Associated Press college basketball poll. The Zags (5-2) had been in the top 10 for 84 consecutive weeks dating back to Feb. 5, 2018. That was the fourth-longest stint in the history of the AP poll, which debuted in the 1948-49 season.

PORTLAND – Nolan Hickman grew up watching and consuming the multi-team college basketball events that typically land around the Thanksgiving holiday. The inaugural PK80 Invitational, held 170 miles south of his home in Seattle, was appointment viewing for a 14-year-old Hickman.

Julian Strawther

On a night that was the ultimate rollercoaster ride for Gonzaga’s Drew Timme, teammate Julian Strawther made sure a turbulent 40 minutes of basketball arrived in the win column.