Seasoned squads Gonzaga and Bucknell square off Saturday at the Kennel

Gonzaga and Bucknell don’t share too much in common with each other and, in a general sense, college basketball these days.

The transfer portal, as well as name, image and likeness (NIL), have changed college sports, particularly basketball and football. Both the Zags and Bison, however, boast loads of familiar faces and rank among Division I’s oldest teams heading into Saturday’s matchup at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

No. 13 Gonzaga returned 10 from last season, including six of its top seven scorers, accounting for 81% of the scoring, 71% of the rebounding and 81.4% of the minutes played. The latter ranks fourth nationally.

It’s a similar story for Bucknell, which lost just three players and has four seniors and six juniors on the roster. The returners contributed 71.4% of last season’s points, 78% of the rebounds and 84% of the assists.

Gonzaga (8-3) has dominated the West Coast Conference while Bucknell, located in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, has the Patriot League’s best all-time record but hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2018.

Both programs are trying to build momentum before taking holiday breaks.

The Zags were undefeated and ranked No. 3 entering the Battle 4 Atlantis late last month in the Bahamas. They’ve since gone 3-3 with two overtime losses and setbacks against current No. 4 Kentucky and No. 11 UConn before rebounding with a 102-72 win over visiting Nicholls State on Wednesday.

Bucknell (4-7) is on a five-game losing streak mainly because its offense hit a rough patch. The Bison averaged 80.3 points through six games, but that has faded to 59.0 over the last five. They’re shooting just 39.3% from the field, 24.2% on 3-pointers and 57.8% at the foul line in that stretch.

Gonzaga traditionally dials back its schedule to a game per week during dead week and finals week. With those completed, Bucknell marks GU’s second contest this week.

The Zags are heavy favorites, much like they were against Nicholls State on Wednesday, but they endured a slow start in that contest and trailed for 11-plus minutes in the first half before pulling away in the final 27 minutes.

GU put up 59 points on 73.3% shooting in the second half. The Zags also played zone defense for an extended stretch with mostly positive results.

“We gave up a 3 on the first possession on a skip (pass), but for the most part we were in the right spots,” Zags head coach Mark Few said. “I still think we can get a little more aggressive with it with our hands, maybe tip some balls and deflections. Obviously, its something that would be nice to jump in and out of.”

The Zags will try to rectify a recent batch of costly slow starts to halves and keep their attention on the court and not on pending flights home to spend the holiday with families. GU faces No. 18 UCLA on Dec. 28 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, before opening WCC play two nights later against Pepperdine.

The Bison haven’t played since a Dec. 8 overtime road loss to Radford. Head coach John Griffin III, a former standout guard at Bucknell, noted that many of his players take three-hour exams or produce multiple 10-page papers during finals.

Bucknell was picked to finish fourth in the Patriot League. The Bison lost to eventual conference tournament champion Colgate 68-65 in the semifinals to end Griffin’s first season.

Bucknell is No. 244 in the NET rankings. By comparison, Nicholls State is No. 279 and Pepperdine, picked last in the WCC preseason poll, is No. 257.

Bucknell’s last win over a ranked opponent was a 74-69 victory over Syracuse in November 2005.