SPOKANE, Wash. -- For years, No. 10 Gonzaga struggled to get
big conference programs to travel to its Spokane campus for games.
On Saturday, a team from the vaunted Atlantic Coast Conference
plays at Gonzaga for the first time.
Don't worry, it's not Duke. It's Virginia, which is struggling
with injuries and losses under a new coach.
The Cavaliers (3-3) have suffered back-to-back losses to Georgia
Tech and Fordham, earning the ire of coach Dave Leitao.
"I don't like losing," Leitao said this week. "I think you
should be (mad). Your players should be. Your program should be
upset."
Virginia big man Donte Minter is still slowed by a knee injury,
but may play. Point guard Sean Singletary, who leads the team with
17 points per game, missed the Fordham game as he recovers from a
hip injury. Leitao said he is not fully recovered, but will play
against the Zags.
That puts Virginia in the same shape as Gonzaga, which has not
had point guard Derek Raivio for the past 2½ games because of a
back injury. Raivio is expected to play Saturday.
Gonzaga (6-2) got a one-week break between games because of
finals week, and the Zags needed the rest because they have been
playing short-handed with Erroll Knight and Josh Heytvelt out with
injuries.
"We've been kind of running on fumes," coach Mark Few said.
This will be the second meeting between Virginia and Gonzaga,
which beat the Cavaliers in the first round of the NCAA tournament
in 2001.
This is just the second time Virginia has played in Washington
state, including the 1984 Final Four at the Kingdome in Seattle.
The Cavaliers are also the first ACC team to play in Spokane.
The league has produced 10 national champions. However, Gonzaga is
5-1 all-time against ACC schools, and beat Maryland earlier this
season.
Gonzaga's Adam Morrison continues to lead the nation with an
average of 28.5 points per game.
Morrison's 3-pointer with less than 3 seconds left lifted
Gonzaga to a 64-62 win over Oklahoma State last Saturday.
Gonzaga is second in the nation with a 28-game home winning
streak, and has won 40 of its past 41 non-conference home games.
The Bulldogs are 40-0 at home when ranked, and have never lost
in the two-year-old McCarthey Athletic Center.
That success is one reason why Gonzaga has rarely been able to
attract major conference opponents, except for nearby Washington
and Washington State, to Spokane. The Bulldogs' home opponents
typically consist of other West Coast Conference teams, regional
neighbors like Idaho and Montana, and mid-majors like Saint
Joseph's.
But nearly a decade of success and a new 6,000-seat arena are
raising the quality of the home schedule. Stanford is coming on
Feb. 11.