What Gonzaga's Nolan Hickman said ahead of Kentucky matchup in Seattle

Bulldogs senior guard returns to his hometown for a matchup against the No. 4 Wildcats at Climate Pledge Arena

Gonzaga Bulldogs senior guard Nolan Hickman. / Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

Saturday's top 10 showdown between No. 7 Gonzaga and No. 4 Kentucky at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle will mark the fourth — and perhaps final — time senior guard Nolan Hickman puts on a Bulldogs uniform in front of his hometown.

Climate Pledge Arena is a host venue for the first and second rounds of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, meaning if the Zags (7-1) can keep up their current pace in the win column into March, they could make a return to Seattle one last time before Hickman's college career is wrapped up for good. What a sendoff that would be if Gonzaga sparked another deep postseason run where it all started for Hickman and the program's streak of NCAA Tournament appearances (except it wouldn't be in good ole KeyArena this time).

"That's just a great opportunity for Seattle," Hickman said of March Madness returning to the city. "Seattle hoops, the community around Seattle, we tend to bring out a lot of fans from Gonzaga over in Seattle. So, yeah, it should be fun. I can't wait."

The Bulldogs haven't been able to leave the Emerald City with a victory in their last three visits, having lost in 2021 to Alabama at Climate Pledge and both trips last season to Washington at Hec Edmundson Pavilion and against UConn at Climate Pledge. Hickman and company can snap that skid if they're able to slow down a potent Wildcats (7-1) squad that ranks second in the country in scoring at 92.9 points per game.

Here's more of what Hickman had to say of the matchup against Kentucky.

On the extra motivation the Zags have to win in Seattle on Saturday:

"It's my senior year so I want to end every one with a bang, but especially this one back at home, in the hometown, backyard, definitely. I don't want to give this one away."

On what he learned about from Kentucky watching its loss to Clemson:

"Clemson is a real good team. Their defense is remarkable. But Kentucky is good as well. They got a lot of numbers. They go as deep as we do when it comes to going into their bench, so, they're real talented, but I think if we play the right way, our Zag way, I think we should do just fine."

On the pressure of facing the Wildcats' backcourt:

"They are real handsy on defense, especially Lamont Butler. He took that tenacity from over there in San Diego State. So I feel like he's, he's brought a different energy to the Kentucky guards on sitting down and taking pride in playing defense so, all props to him. That's my guy as well."

On becoming more efficient as a shooter over his college career:

"I would just say my roles became bigger, my work that I've been doing, it's been really paying off and showing, and not just only me. I feel like a lot of these guys on the team have really developed the things that they might not have been as good in the previous year. Like Graham, he's been working on his conditioning. I'm working on my shot, I'm working on every aspect of my game. So I'm sure all my guys are doing the same thing."

On the importance of having multiple days off in between games to recharge:

"It's needed, not just only for me, but for my teammates. We're constantly going, constantly at it, constantly on the floor and everything. So it's much needed to take a little bit of time away from basketball. We got class school and everything too so, finals week is right here. So it's needed, especially this one week, get our finals and everything done and [then] right back to it."

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