Men's basketball faces another tough challenge in No. 5 Gonzaga

Gonzaga’s glass slipper no longer fits.

Once an annual Cinderella story, the Zags have evolved into one of the top programs in the country. The northwest school that used to be regarded as the feel-good story of college basketball now has opponents worried sick about playing them.

“There really is not anything that doesn’t concern us (about Gonzaga),” IU coach Tom Crean said in a Thursday teleconference.

With a balanced scoring attack, talent at every position and “tremendous” chemistry, Crean said he thinks the Bulldogs have been one of the best teams in the nation for more than a decade.

“I don’t think you’ll find any college basketball coach or player that has competed against them that wouldn’t refer to them as one of the best programs in the country,” Crean said.

On Saturday, the Hoosiers (4-3) will try and create a feel-good story of their own when they face No. 5 Gonzaga at 1:30 p.m. in the Hartford Hall of Fame Classic in Indianapolis.

The IU-Gonzaga showdown will be the first basketball game ever played inside Lucas Oil Stadium, the host of the 2010 and 2015 Final Fours. Following the game, No. 7 Notre Dame and Ohio State will play.

“It’s a great honor for us at Indiana to play in the first game at Lucas Oil Stadium,” Crean said. “It wouldn’t seem right in my opinion, and a lot of others’, if Indiana wasn’t in the first game.”

Gonzaga coach Mark Few acknowledged the Hoosiers have a “huge challenge” in rebuilding the program but maintained Crean’s Hoosiers are, nevertheless, a “dangerous team.”

“It’s really important everyone understands where they’re at and give (Crean) some time and patience,” Few said in the teleconference. “That being said, they are a very, very capable team that is playing hard and seems to be executing what he’s got them in.”
Few also said his team is executing better than it was at the same time last season, partially in thanks to its lack of a “star” player.

Gonzaga is led in scoring by senior center Josh Heytvelt (15.0 points), a potential match-up problem down low for the Hoosiers. Adding to the Zags’ advantage in the post is 6-foot-11 forward Austin Daye, a lanky sophomore. Through five games, Daye is averaging 12.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per contest.

The Bulldogs’ balanced scoring attack features five players averaging in double figures. The team’s sixth-leading scorer, senior guard Jeremy Pargo, returned to school this summer after entering his name into the NBA Draft.

“Everything that came out of that was positive,” Few said. “Kids so many times just focus on scoring, but what we’ve been harping Jeremy on is running the team, being a point guard ... and leading us. And that was reinforced, that was what the NBA people wanted to see.”

Because of Gonzaga’s depth, Crean said IU will be “very match-up oriented.” He wasn’t sure if he’d start freshman point-forward Malik Story against Pargo and said freshman guard Verdell Jones is still “day-to-day.”

After watching the tape of IU’s 83-58 loss to No. 15 Wake Forest on the bus ride home Wednesday night, Crean said the Demon Deacons wore his team down mentally and physically after the Hoosiers got off to a strong start.

“A lot of the things we’re not so good at right now can change with better technique, change with better angles, change with better execution,” Crean said, pointing out the Hoosiers gave up too many lay-ups Wednesday.

After turning the ball over a season-high 26 times Wednesday, Crean said the Hoosiers need to do a better job mentally of taking care of the ball.

“There are certain things physically we can’t change,” IU’s first-year coach said. “The bottom line is there are things we can’t change, and that’s why we’ve got to tighten up the details of the game for us.”