The Tigers bring a young cast of players sure to test the Zags in the round of 32
Players of the Gonzaga men's basketball team ran down the hallway holding five fingers after the team's first-round victory on Thursday. The five fingers represent the five victories the Zags need to secure a now coveted NCAA national championship.
For one more finger-knock, GU will have to take out Penny Hardaway's Memphis Tigers at 6:40 p.m. PST Saturday. The Tigers are coming off an 11-point win against the Boise State Broncos, coached by Mountain West Conference champion former GU assistant Leon Rice.
Memphis has had what some call a tumultuous season, going through parts where the team has suffered three or four defeats in a row, raising questions about whether the country has an AP President's No. 12 event. Will also make the NCAA tournament. Injuries kept Memphis from locking in a consistent lineup early in the season, as players gelled together and struggled to find reconciliation.
It was as freshman center James Duran began to gain his footing that the Tigers began to collectively hold their own as the season went on. The 6-foot-11 big man from Pennsylvania is a scoring threat as well as a defensive presence, scoring 12.1 points per game on 74.8% shooting at the rim and denying 2.1 blocks per game. His athleticism stacks up well against GU's young bigot in Chet Holmgren, and the two players should be a decent challenger to each other when it comes to looking clean on the inside.
DeAndre Williams is another asset the Tigers have worked for him inside the paint, a 6-foot-9 forward who has had a No. 2 scoring mantle after losing to the Tigers' much-famed new Emoney Bates. Bates has been out since January 27 with a back injury, but as of Thursday returned to the lineup where he received limited minutes.
And with Andrew Nembhardt to bring the ball up, senior guard Alex Lomax will handle the rock for most of Memphis' wealth. Lomax leads the Tigers in assists and steals, and while he averages only 6.7 points per contest, he shoots at over 50% of the clip which means the Zags can't forget about him on defense and keep him warm. takes the risk of doing so.
Anyone who watched the Zags' first performance in the tournament against Georgia State saw what their offensive in the first half looked like. While the Zags were able to lead 21-0 during the second half to take the game out of GSU's hands, they can't expect to mount the same late-game streak against the Tigers on Saturday.
The Memphis front court pair is nimble and quick on their feet, meaning that Drew Timme, who dropped a game-high 32 points against GSU, will not be effective in scoring a foul against them in the low post. The Zags also took 2-12 shots from deep to start their first round game, and while deep range shooting isn't a GU specialty, the team shoots three to 37.6% this year and relies on those looks to get the guards. does.
The Tigers are also a 3-point shooting team and shots beyond the arc accounted for only 30.6% of their shots throughout the season, but either team is liable to heat up and catch the Zags early on as Memphis advances. will be required. Notably as winners of seven of their last eight matches, the Tigers have become a threat to the Sweet 16 versus national champion hopeful Zags.