Gonzaga shifts attention to Northern Arizona in final contest before holiday break

A physical, neutral-court win over No. 25 Texas Tech was still ruminating in Gonzaga coach Mark Few’s mind Saturday when he was asked about Monday’s home game against Northern Arizona.

“On the plane ride home, we’ll start focusing on NAU,” Few said. “Texas Tech had our full attention here.”

Presumably some of that focus was forming by the time the Zags’ charter flight landed in Spokane, probably before NAU and San Diego tipped off at 7 p.m. PST in the last of four Saturday games at the Jerry Colangelo Classic in Phoenix.

Both teams face a swift turnaround before Monday’s 6 p.m. tip at the McCarthey Athletic Center. Fifth-ranked Gonzaga (9-2) opened the quadruple-header with a 69-55 victory over the Red Raiders that tipped off at 10 a.m. PST. NAU (4-7) lost to the Toreros 69-59 in the late-night finale at Footprint Center.

Texas Tech was the last marquee matchup on Gonzaga’s nonconference schedule – barring an addition to make up for the cancellation of a Dec. 12 game due to COVID-19 issues in Washington’s program.

The Zags went 3-2 – all three wins by at least 14 points – in five games against ranked teams that spanned the AP Top 25. The victories included then No. 2 UCLA (83-63), No. 5 Texas (86-74) and No. 25 Texas Tech. The losses were to then No. 5 Duke (84-81) and No. 16 Alabama (91-82).

Northern Arizona will be Gonzaga’s last contest before the team takes a short holiday break. With the Washington cancellation, Finals Week and the Christmas break, Gonzaga will be playing just its fourth game in 28 days prior to North Alabama’s visit on Dec. 28.

The Zags have won 62 straight over unranked foes. They own the nation’s longest active home winning streak at 57.

The Lumberjacks have dropped 10 straight to WCC competition, including an 88-58 setback to Gonzaga last December in a game that was pushed back 16 days due to a COVID pause in the Zags’ program. NAU went on to finish 6-16 and placed 10th in the Big Sky with a 4-10 mark.

NAU was picked ninth by the coaches and 10th by the media in the Big Sky preseason poll.

Virginia Tech transfer Jalen Cone paces the offense at 17.6 points per game. The 5-foot-11 guard has 169 field-goal attempts, 71 more than the next closest teammate.

Cone is averaging 25.7 points in the last three games while connecting on 15 of 29 3-pointers.

Of six Lumberjacks that played significant minutes Saturday against San Diego, three (Carson Towt, Nik Mains and Keith Haymon) did the same against Gonzaga last season.

Towt, a 6-7 forward, averages 9.0 points and 9.5 rebounds. Mains, a 6-8 forward, is NAU’s second leading scorer at 11.1. The 6-7 Haymon is fourth in scoring (8.4).

Three others that played double-digit minutes vs. the Zags – Jay Green, Carter Mahaney and Isaiah Lewis – combined for just 10 minutes against USD.

Gonzaga has returned to the top spot in KenPom’s rankings, just in front of AP No. 1 Baylor. The Zags are sixth in the NET rankings.

NAU is 288 in the NET rankings and 317 in KenPom.