NBA News NBA News, Match Reports and Updates
Gonzaga opens the 2026 NCAA Tournament on Thursday night in Portland, and the No. 14 seed waiting for them has had a season worth knowing about before tipoff.
Kennesaw State arrives as the Conference USA champion, though the road to that title ran through just about everything a basketball program can face in a single year. The Owls lost their leading scorer, preseason C-USA Player of the Year Simeon Cottle, to a federal gambling investigation in January, stumbled to 10-10 in conference play, and entered their own tournament as a six seed. Then they won three games in three days against three higher seeds and cut down the nets.
Advertisement
That’s how a 21-13 team from Kennesaw, Georgia ends up as the No. 14 seed in the West Region, facing a Gonzaga squad that comes in at 30-3, WCC regular season and tournament champions, on Thursday night at 7:00 PM PST on TBS. It’s the first meeting between these two programs.
Gonzaga comes in riding the momentum of a WCC Tournament championship, capped by a six-three performance from Mario Saint-Supéry against Santa Clara in the title game. Graham Ike, who was named Third Team All-American earlier this week, now leads a team that has had some time to rest and get healthy after their annual trip to Vegas. Braden Huff remains out with a bum knee, but the Bulldogs that show up in Portland on Thursday night should be as close to full strength as they’ve been in months.
And that’s a dangerous thing for the Kennesaw State Owls.
Advertisement
Meet the Owls
Coach Antoine Pettway spent 15 years on Nate Oats’ staff at Alabama before taking the Kennesaw State job in 2023, and he brought the entire playbook with him. The Owls play at the 19th fastest adjusted tempo in the country according to KenPom, they crash the offensive glass at the 39th best rate in Division I, and they draw more free throws than almost anyone in the sport, averaging 27 attempts per game, which ranks second nationally. The whole philosophy is built around relentlessness:…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/portland-bound-complete-guide-gonzaga-125430421.html
Author :
Publish date : 2026-03-18 12:54:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
