Arkansas-Pine Bluff (UAPB) will travel west to take on the #7-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs at the McCarthey Athletic Center. In their last head-to-head encounter in November 2019, the Bulldogs prevailed over the Golden Lions at McCarthey Athletic Center, winning by a score of 110-60.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff is hoping to become the next SWAC team to upset a nationally ranked-opponent. UAPB could follow in the footsteps of Southern after they went on the road to upset #21 Mississippi State 60-59.
Southern’s upset over Mississippi State and a potential upset for UAPB over Gonzaga could result in consecutive seasons that the SWAC has knocked off power five teams. Last season during the SWAC-PAC 12 Legacy Series, the SWAC claimed three victories with upsets from Texas Southern defeating Arizona State, Grambling defeating Colorado and Prairie View A&M defeating Washington State.
Gonzaga | OVR 5-1 | WCC 0-0 | HOME 3-0
Gonzaga is a basketball powerhouse that comes into the matchup 5-1 in the season. Last year, they finished the season 31-6 after losing in the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament against eventual champion UConn.
Dominating the offensive glass has been a hallmark of Gonzaga’s play at the McCarthey Athletic Center. In their home games, the Bulldogs are securing an average of 14.0 offensive rebounds per game.
The Bulldogs come in with season averages of 3.0 blocks per game and 7.2 steals per game. Ben Gregg has been their individual blocks leader (0.7 per game) while Graham Ike has led them in steals (1.3 per game).
Arkansas-Pine Bluff | OVR 4-5 | SWAC 0-0 | AWAY 1-4
Rashad Williams was on fire from deep in Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s last matchup against Oklahoma. Williams scored 20 points on 5-of-10 shooting from three. This points to a recent upward shooting trend. Williams averages 18.3 points per game and 3.4 made threes per game and ranks first on Arkansas-Pine Bluff and first in the SWAC in three-pointers made this season.
Rim protection has posed a challenge for the Golden Lions, especially on the road. They’ve averaged just 1.4 blocks per away game this season.
Key Metrics
- Gonzaga tends to start hot. The team averages 44.3 first-half points per game, best in the WCC (conference average is 35.7).
- Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s defense stacks up with any team in the SWAC. The team allows just 1.1 points per defensive possession, which places them third in the conference (SWAC average is 1.12).
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