PORTLAND, Ore.-In Western’s first round victory over Illinois, size was a big issue for the Toppers, an issue they were able to deal with thanks to stellar shooting and transition offense.
Against Gonzaga in Satuday’s NCAA Tournament second round game, the Toppers will have the same issues, only add all-around athleticism to that list.
“They’re long and athletic,” coach Ken McDonald said. “So I would imagine they’re going to try to go inside. And we have to keep (senior guard Jeremy) Pargo out of the lane. As we start to break down what we have to do to win the basketball game, we have to break it down by position. And that’s what we’ll try to do
The 12th-seeded Toppers (25-9) will take on fourth-seeded Gonzaga (27-5) at 7:10 tomorrow in the second round of the South Regional, a game that pits two teams that are carrying similar roles in college basketball in the last few seasons.
The Bulldogs, members of the mid-major West Coast Conference have established themselves as a major contender amongst the bigger programs and conferences over the last decade. Western, a team making its second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament second round, has established itself as somewhat of a Cinderella over the past few seasons with last season’s run to the Sweet 16 and this season’s win over no.1-overall tournament seed Louisville earlier in the season.
It’s a position the Toppers would like to be in annually.
“Ultimately, that’s what we want for the program,” senior guard Orlando Mendez-Valdez said. “They definitely crossed that borderline from mid-major and being an elite program. They’ve proven it every year that they make the NCAA Tournament. They make the postseason every year, dominate their conference tournament. I mean we can learn a lot from them and that’s what we want for the program, to continue to rise and turn it into an elite program.”
McDonald said he is impressed by the consistent success Gonzaga has had over the last decade.
“Look at what they’ve done and it’s amazing,” McDonald said. “It is amazing. It just keeps going up for them, and obviously coach Mark Few can coach ad can recruit. So all those things go into what I think is an ideal situation.”
Few said at the end of the day it’s flattering that programs across the country try to model themselves after what Gonzaga has done, but also that every situation is different.
“It’s hard for me to comment on what somebody else has got somewhere else,” Few said. “And like I said, I think Western Kentucky has done a great job of figuring their situation out. And it seems to be working really, really well for them.”
Western is making playing in the second round in consecutive years for the first time in school history.
On the court, Gonzaga is a team that Western has seen recently. The two squads met last season in the opening round of the Great Alaskan Shootout. The Bulldogs prevailed 74-71.
Gonzaga returns a great amount of talent from that team, though they were without forward Josh Heytvelt, who was inured. However, the one mental advantage the Toppers may have is in what they don’t return from that team, with a new coach, new key players and new system.
While players like sophomore guard A.J. Slaughter see it as an advantage, McDonald doesn’t.
“It’s an advantage if they are using that tape and really relying on it,” McDonald joked. “Not really, at this point. Team’s do a great job scouting, they’re gonna know us inside and out, we know them inside and out, already.”
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