No. 6 Gonzaga, No. 8 Baylor face off in star-studded opener

Gonzaga has never shied away from scheduling tough nonconference games.

It appears this season is no exception.

The No. 6 Bulldogs, who have made nine consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16, will face No. 8 Baylor on Monday night in their regular-season opener at Spokane, Wash.

It will be a rematch of the 2021 NCAA title game, which the Bears won 86-70 at Indianapolis.

"I'm fired up," Gonzaga guard Nolan Hickman said after scoring 19 points in 21 minutes Wednesday in a 109-52 exhibition victory against visiting Warner Pacific, an NAIA school. "I'm trying to get all the guys fired up. I'm sure they are, but just emphasizing that we've gotta come out with energy, we've gotta come out and hit 'em in the mouth, we've gotta have that in the game.

"We're just ready. Go back into practice this week and give it our all. We've gotta practice like we're in the game. We are ready."

The Bulldogs extended their tough scheduling approach to their first exhibition this fall, a trip to Palm Desert, Calif., to face Southern California in a charity game. Gonzaga lost 96-93, though coach Mark Few tinkered with his lineup and only one starter, guard Ryan Nembhard, played more than 30 minutes.

"We were shuffling guys in and out there (and) tried to get certain guys minutes, which is what we need to do in an exhibition," Few said. "Figure it out. It'll change throughout the year.

"We have a bunch of guys that are kind of bunched together. It's not like they are head and shoulders above each other, so there'll be a bunch of that."

The Bulldogs are loaded as usual, with power forward Graham Ike and Nembhard named to the Naismith Player of the Year preseason watch list. Ike also was on the Karl Malone Award watch list, and small forward Michael Ajayi, a transfer from Pepperdine, was listed among the contenders for the Julius Erving Award.

Baylor's Norchad Omier, a transfer from Miami, also was named to the Malone watch list. Point guard Jeremy Roach, a transfer from Duke, made the Bob Cousy Award watch list, and shooting guard VJ Edgecombe was selected as the Big 12's preseason freshman of the year and landed on the Jerry West Award watch list. All three were also named to the Naismith list.

The Bears lost four starters off last season's team that fell to Clemson in the NCAA Tournament's round of 32.

"College basketball has a lot of transition now," Bears coach Scott Drew said on the "Marching to Madness" podcast. "We open with Gonzaga, and whenever you have a team that returns seven of their top eight from the year before, it's a huge advantage."

The Bears will face not only Gonzaga but also No. 16 Arkansas, under new coach John Calipari, in the opening week of the season.

"For the good of the game, it's great to have early-season matchups like they do in college football in that first week to draw attention to college basketball," Drew said. "The NCAA metrics do a good job of not punishing you for losses rather than playing quality competition. It can be nothing but rewarding. It encourages you to do that, not punish you when it comes to the NCAA Tournament (selection) for not having 25 wins."

--Field Level Media