No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 4 West Virginia Prediction, Game Preview


Gonzaga vs. West Virginia prediction and game preview, as the No. 1 Bulldogs and No. 4 Mountaineers face off in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.


Mark Few’s top-seeded Bulldogs (34-1) spoiled Northwestern’s first-ever NCAA Tournament, claiming a 79-73 win on Saturday in Salt Lake City. It was career win No. 500 for Few, who became the third-fastest in NCAA history to reach 500 wins. For the Zags, it is their third straight Sweet Sixteen appearance.

Meanwhile, the 4th-seeded Mountaineers (28-8) clinched a Sweet Sixteen berth for the first time since 2015 with an 83-71 win over former Big East rival Notre Dame earlier on Saturday in the West Region. Guard Jevon Carter scored 24 points, Esa Ahmad had nine rebounds and the ‘Neers are headed to the Sweet Sixteen for the fourth time under head coach Bob Huggins.

Gonzaga vs. West Virginia Game Preview

Date: Thursday, March 23
Venue: SAP Center, San Jose, CA
Region: West

Gonzaga Wins If …

Its defense plays as well as it did against Northwestern. The Zags contested a good number of Northwestern’s field goal attempts, which forced the Wildcats to shoot a low percentage and dig a big hole in the first twenty minutes on Saturday. Few’s squad was playing suffocating defense, and Northwestern often settled for threes. The Wildcats started 0-of-10 from downtown before making their first one, so it was a rough go before Chris Collins and Co. ultimately had their comeback fall short.

Przemek Karnowski only had four points at the half against Northwestern, but he still heavily impacted the game despite his low-scoring output. Because the Wildcats had to be aware of his presence, that allowed things to open up for other scorers. At 7-foot-1 and 300 pounds, he clearly is a matchup nightmare. So he’s effective even when he is not scoring.

West Virginia Wins If …

Huggins gets another complete effort from his team. On both ends of the court, the ‘Neers controlled the contest against the Irish. They never trailed in the game after jumping out to a big lead, and they played an efficient, clean contest. Notre Dame had 14 turnovers, as it had issues with a WVU full-court press that features great athletes with very good length.

Against the Irish, the Mountaineers were efficient from downtown, connecting on five of six 3-pointers in the second half. Overall, the team shot well from the floor in its halfcourt offense as well as from the free-throw line. The ‘Neers can continue on their run if Carter continues his strong play. Every time it looked like ND could make a little run, he seemed to make a big momentum-stunting bucket.

Gonzaga vs. West Virginia Prediction

“Press Virginia” can give a lot of opponents problems because of the in-your-face defense. It rattled Notre Dame, which entered Saturday’s game ranked second in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio. WVU defenders are active with their hands, and their quick traps cause havoc. In the end, though, Gonzaga’s size advantage will be the difference. Karnowski has a big second half to help the Zags reach the Elite Eight.

Gonzaga vs. West Virginia Score Prediction: Gonzaga 72, West Virginia 63

MORE: Complete NCAA Tournament Bracket, Previews, Predictions