Gonzaga agrees to home-and-home series with San Diego State, will host Aztecs in December

Gonzaga has agreed to a home-and-home series with San Diego State, meaning the Bulldogs will not only see one but both of the teams that appeared in the 2023 national championship game at different points of another grueling nonconference schedule.

The two-year series with the Aztecs, who lost 76-59 to UConn in the title game, will begin with a Dec. 29 game at McCarthey Athletic Center. The Zags will make a return trip to San Diego State’s Viejas Arena during the 2024-25 season, but a date for the game has yet to be announced.

Gonzaga has reportedly agreed to a multiyear series with UConn. The teams are slated to play on Dec. 19 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, with another neutral-site game following the next season at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Coming off their surprise March Madness run, the Aztecs are expected to be a preseason Top 25 team in 2023-24. Similar to the Bulldogs, they will need to replace a handful of key players from the group that advanced to the program’s first national championship game.

Both programs are replacing three starters. SDSU loses Nathan Mensah, Matt Bradley and Keshad Johnson, as well as key bench reserve Aguek Arop. Those four accounted for 30.8 points per game and Bradley was the Aztecs’ leading scorer, at 12.6 points per game.

The Aztecs bring back senior guard and NCAA Tournament hero Lamont Butler, who entered the draft before electing to return to college this fall. Butler hit a buzzer-beating jumper to lift SDSU over Florida Atlantic in the Final Four, clinching a national championship berth.

Brian Dutcher’s program brings in two transfers, Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year Reese Dixon-Waters of USC and Campbell’s Jay Pal, along with freshman center Miles Heide, a Mount Si High (Snoqualmie, Washington) product who was considered the third-best recruit in the state last year.

The Zags have to fill holes left by All-American forward Drew Timme, first-round NBA draft pick Julian Strawther and guard Rasir Bolton.

They’ve been active in the transfer portal this offseason, bringing in Wyoming post Graham Ike, Creighton point guard Ryan Nembhard and Eastern Washington wing Steele Venters.

Ike had four contests against SDSU during his time in the Mountain West, posting a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double against the Aztecs during the most recent meeting in 2021-22.

Gonzaga and SDSU, both unlikely success stories that have elevated to being two of the top college basketball programs on the West Coast, have played four times, splitting those games ,

The Aztecs edged GU 72-70 in the last meeting at Viejas Arena on Dec. 22, 2017, but the Bulldogs won the last game in Spokane, beating SDSU 69-48 at the Kennel during ESPN’s Tip-Off Marathon. Five-time NBA All-Star Kawhi Leonard helped lead SDSU to a win over Gonzaga in 2010, despite a 35-point performance from Gonzaga guard Steven Gray.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few has constructed another nonconference schedule that may rival the daunting slate his team faced in 2022-23.

Along with SDSU and UConn, the Bulldogs have a challenging week at the Maui Invitational, where it was announced Tuesday they’ll face Purdue in the opening round and either Tennessee or Syracuse the following day.

Gonzaga could face Kansas, UCLA or Marquette in a potential championship game.

The Bulldogs will play Kentucky in Lexington, although a date for that game hasn’t been announced, and will reportedly travel to Las Vegas to play another preseason Top 25 team in USC. Gonzaga also faces in-state rival Washington in Seattle on Dec. 9.