Gonzaga readies for 'scary' season opener against Yale

The No. 11 Zags host Yale for the first time since 1992

Regular-season openers for the Gonzaga men's basketball team are seldom filled with suspense. 

In the last five years, the Zags have defeated their first opponents by an average of 31.5 points. Most recently, Gonzaga demolished North Florida 104-63 to begin the 2022-23 campaign. 

As this year's squad looks to start the season on a similarly high note, its opening matchup against Yale will be anything but a cakewalk. 

Yale, which was voted to win the Ivy League in a preseason poll, visits Spokane on Friday after notching a 102-53 win over Vassar. The two sets of Bulldogs will tipoff at 6 p.m. PST inside McCarthey Athletic Center. 

Dan Dickau not concerned with Gonzaga's 3-point shooting in win over Lewis-Clark State

"That's a scary game," Few said after Gonzaga's 96-58 exhibition win over Lewis-Clark State. "It's not an ideal opener for us. They'll be smart, they'll be tough, they're super, super well coached. They're picked to win the Ivy [League] and they have their whole team back."

Yale head coach James Jones brought back four of five starters from last season's team that shared the Ivy League's regular season title with NCAA Tournament team Princeton. 

The returning group for Yale is headlined by 6-foot-6 forward Matt Knowling, a unanimous first team All-Ivy selection in 2022-23 after averaging a team-high 13.6 points per game on 62.5% shooting. 

Another notable returner is Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year Bez Mbeng. The 6-foot-4 guard had multiple steals in 11 games last season for a squad that finished atop the Ivy League in adjusted defensive efficiency by KenPom.

August Mahoney, who also came back for Yale, shot a conference-best 93.1% from the free-throw line and 46.7% from beyond the arc. 

In comparison, not much is left from Gonzaga's core in 2022-2023. The only returning starters are junior guard Nolan Hickman and graduate student forward Anton Watson.

Coach Few netted the nation's ninth-ranked transfer class this offseason, according to 247Sports. The Zags hauled in junior guard Ryan Nembhard from Creighton, redshirt junior forward Graham Ike from Wyoming and redshirt junior guard Steele Venters from Eastern Washington. The trio of transfers started alongside Hickman and Watson in Gonzaga's scrimmage against Baylor and exhibition against Lewis-Clark State. 

Ike, who missed all of last year with a right leg injury, led the Zags in scoring with 24 points on 11 of 13 shooting against the Warriors. Gonzaga's second-leading scorer was redshirt freshman forward Braden Huff, who had 21 points and shot 8-for-11. 

An experienced Yale squad was not the intended first matchup for the overhauled Zags, who are still figuring out how to utilize all of their newcomers. Gonzaga tried to set up a game for earlier in the week, but was unable to find a suitable opponent with an opening in its schedule.

Few also noted that Gonzaga's game against Yale was supposed to happen last season, but was postponed to accommodate the showdown against Kentucky in Spokane Arena on Nov. 20. 

The Zags haven't started a season with a loss since 2003 and have won 32 consecutive home openers, dating back to 1988. 

Gonzaga's Graham Ike 'truly grateful' to be back