Gonzaga men's basketball faces another deep backcourt in Northern Illinois

The Zags face a high-scoring guard duo in Keshawn Williams and David Coit, who average a combined 31.4 points per game

After notching a 17-point win over Washington on Friday, the Gonzaga men’s basketball team welcomes another group of Huskies when Northern Illinois visits the McCarthey Athletic Center on Monday at 6 p.m. 

It marks NIU’s (3-6) second-consecutive trip to the Inland Northwest after its prior trek to the region ended in an 84-47 loss to Idaho in Moscow on Dec. 2. 

The defeat in Idaho dropped the Huskies to a 1-4 record on the road, with their only win as a visiting team coming against Eastern Illinois in Charleston, Illinois. At home, NIU has victories over Purdue Northwest and Long Island. 

Listed 308th on KenPom as of Sunday, the Huskies are slotted lower than any of Gonzaga’s 10 opponents so far this season. The Zags (7-3) are 11th in those rankings and were voted No. 18 in the country in the Associated Press Top 25 poll released Monday. 

While Gonzaga is the clear favorite, NIU’s backcourt duo of Keshawn Williams and David Coit could pose a challenge for the Zags, whose guards have struggled, at times, with consistency on both ends of the floor. 

Williams and Coit are the top two highest-scorers for the Huskies, averaging 17.4 and 14 points per game, respectively. The pair shoot roughly 38% from 3-point range on a combined 108 attempts. 

“They have some guards that can really shoot the ball,” said Gonzaga assistant coach Brian Michaelson. “That’s how they get you spread out and then they have the ability to take you off the ball.”

Zarique Nutter, a 6-foot-6 wing, is another notable member of NIU’s backcourt. He averages 12.5 points per game, along with a team-high 5.4 rebounds.

On the defensive end, Williams, Coit and Nutter don’t shy away from putting immense pressure on opposing ball-handlers, as NIU forces 12.4 turnovers per game. 

“Defensively, they mix it up, but they’ve had long stretches of pressure and picking up full court, so obviously we’re going to have to handle the ball and take great care of it,” Michaelson said.

A win for Gonzaga would extend its home winning streak to 71 games, tying a record in the modern era of Division I college basketball. 

Tipoff for Monday’s game is 6 p.m.