After weeklong break, No. 14 Gonzaga resumes play against Portland

The Zags defeated Portland 115-75 in Spokane earlier in the season

For the past week, the Gonzaga men’s basketball team got to rest and recover before resuming one of the program’s most chaotic and challenging West Coast Conference slate’s in recent memory.

“This is our last rest,” said head coach Mark Few to the Spokesman-Review after the Zags’ win over Pacific last Saturday. “We’ll be on quite a gauntlet with Thursday-Saturday (games the rest of conference play). We need to rest our minds and, in some instances, our bodies.

No. 14 Gonzaga’s (17-4, 6-1 WCC) first game back is on the road against Portland (11-12, 3-5) on Saturday. Tipoff is 4 p.m. PST.

The Zags defeated the Pilots 115-75 in Spokane on Jan. 14 behind a 27-point showing from backup guard Malachi Smith. It remains their largest margin of victory this season.

However, Few isn’t taking any chances.

“I’ve done this thing long enough where we’ve won by 30 at home and just been in absolutely a barnburner down there,” he said.

Few’s mindset also seems like good practice when taking into account the unpredictable nature of the Zags’ conference season so far.

Five of their seven WCC matchups have ended within single digits, ​​most notably the team’s 68-67 loss to Loyola Marymount last Thursday. That game snapped Gonzaga’s 75-game home winning streak and was the Lions’ first win in Spokane since 1991.

The Zags responded with an unconvincing 99-90 win over Pacific in Stockton, which was the most points Gonzaga had allowed in league play.

“We’re clearly not defending very well,” Few said after the game.

Portland is first in the WCC in field-goal percentage (50.2%), while being second in 3-point percentage (38.8%) and points per game (74.6).

The Pilots are led by junior forward Moses Wood, who is averaging a team-high 14.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. He is also shooting 40.0% from the 3-point range on 120 attempts.

In Portland’s loss to Gonzaga earlier in the season, Wood led his team with 19 points, to go along with seven rebounds, one block and one steal.

The Zags have won 15 in a row against the Pilots and seven consecutive in Portland, but Few still anticipates a difficult road environment.

“There’ll be a full house, they’ll be amped up,” he said. “It’ll be a much stiffer challenge than we saw in Spokane.”

After playing the Pilots, Gonzaga will return home to host Santa Clara next Thursday.