Gonzaga Basketball: Sizing up Southern

The best time of the year for sports is about to begin as the NCAA Tournament is officially here. Since Pac-12 basketball is a steaming pile of suck, and Eastern Washington University had a down year (their 10th straight down year), the only "dog" in the race that the state of Washington has is the No. 1-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs.

For the first time in school history, which you know began in 1999, the Zags earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will be facing No. 16-seed Southern University. Now if you said you've heard of this team before, you're lying, but Gonzaga should be able to get business done against this squad. Hailing from the Southwestern Conference with a 23-9 record, the Jaguars have won 22 of their last 25 games after starting the season 1-5. However...

- They rank statistically 162nd for points scored (67.7), 148th rebounds (35.2), 270th in assists (11.4) and 172nd in field goal percentage (.434). Gonzaga is ranked 12th in scoring (77.6), 54th in rebounding (37.3), 28th in assists (15.2) and third in field goal percentage (.504).

- Southern had an RPI of 182 and have a 1-7 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament. Only two other teams in their conference finished with a record over .500.

- Derick Beltran is the top scorer for the Jags with 15.9 points per game, then there's Malcom Miller with 15.8 points per game. Notice though that assists and field goal percentage aren't specialties for Southern.

The Zags, on the other hand, are No. 1 in the country for a reason. Southern has shown a knack for not being able to score... and you can't do that against the Zags - plain and simple.

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