MORGANTOWN - If Gonzaga is at all concerned about having to travel all the way across the country to play a lower-seeded Big East team in its own backyard in its opening game of the NCAA tournament, well, the Bulldogs are hiding it well.
"I'm salivating playing outside of the [West Coast Conference] with different officials,'' Sacre said. "I know it's going to be physical and it's going to be a tough tournament game. It's going to be a bruiser game and I think both teams know that.''
Sacre and Harris are both big, foreign-born players who sometimes seem to think they have their hands tied by what they see as too-tight officiating in the WCC.
"It's not really a big man conference, so it's different,'' Sacre said. "They might call some ticky-tack fouls here and there. But when it comes to the Big East and the tournament, they're not going to call a lot. They're going to let a lot slide. So we have to play our style of basketball, which is physical.''
Harris, a junior from Germany, is likely to draw the assignment of defending WVU's Kevin Jones. The 6-8, 260-pound Jones led the Big East in both scoring and rebounding. Sacre is a 260-pound Canadian who will be inside against Deniz Kilicli and Dominique Rutledge.
Sacre doesn't seem concerned over the matchups, even the one with Jones, who on Monday was named a second-team All-America by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
"Kevin Jones is a phenomenal player. He's one of the best Big East players right now,'' Sacre said. "We have a tough job on our hands. But I think we'll be all right. We just have to play our style and try to contain him.
"I think we should match up just fine. Elias has been playing really well and been rebounding great the last couple of games. He's going to come out and play his style of basketball, but I think we match up just fine with them.''
Gonzaga, which is making its 14th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance - WVU is making its fifth straight and eighth in nine years - played one Big East school this season and handily beat Notre Dame, 73-53, at home in late November (The Zags were 15-1 on their home floor, 10-5 elsewhere).
Notre Dame swept West Virginia in two games this season.
"That definitely gives us confidence,'' Pangos said. "But just because Notre Dame beat them doesn't mean it will be the same result for us.''
Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com or follow him at Twitter.com/dphickman1
MORGANTOWN - If Gonzaga is at all concerned about having to travel all the way across the country to play a lower-seeded Big East team in its own backyard in its opening game of the NCAA tournament, well, the Bulldogs are hiding it well.
Coach Mark Few talks about how difficult and delicate the seeding and placement process is for the tournament selection committee and how he understands that if "you start worrying about the 7 and 10 seeds, you'd never get it done.''
Forward Elias Harris, a 6-foot-7, 240-pound bruiser, speaks of playing Big East teams that "want to kick your teeth in'' and seems to relish the thought.
And 7-foot senior center Robert Sacre talks of "salivating [over the thought of] playing outside the WCC,'' a league whose officiating style apparently does not lend itself to physical play.
In other words, bring it on - no matter the opponent or the location.
The Zags will get the chance Thursday night when seventh-seeded Gonzaga (25-6) meets No. 10 seed West Virginia (19-13) in an NCAA East Regional game in Pittsburgh. The 7:20 p.m. contest at Consol Energy Center will be televised by TNT.
When Gonzaga learned of its opening matchup in the tournament, the players' thoughts immediately turned to two things - playing a game in such close proximity to WVU and facing a Big East team. The former is apparently not an issue.
"I think it's more about what we bring than the atmosphere [in the arena] and the fans,'' said freshman guard Kevin Pangos, who is Gonzaga's leading scorer. "We've traveled and played games like this before. It's just like going to Xavier.''
Gonzaga beat Xavier, also an NCAA tournament No. 10 seed, 72-65 on New Year's Eve on the Musketeers' home floor in Cincinnati.
As for the physical nature of playing a Big East team, that's apparently not an issue, either. In fact, the Bulldogs seem to delight in the notion.
"All those Big East teams play physical basketball,'' Harris said. "You just put your hardhats on.''
Just how physical the game gets will, of course, be determined by how the game is called by the officials assigned to it. But there is no question that West Virginia under Bob Huggins likes to play a physical brand of basketball. Again, say the Zags, bring it on.
"I'm salivating playing outside of the [West Coast Conference] with different officials,'' Sacre said. "I know it's going to be physical and it's going to be a tough tournament game. It's going to be a bruiser game and I think both teams know that.''
Sacre and Harris are both big, foreign-born players who sometimes seem to think they have their hands tied by what they see as too-tight officiating in the WCC.
"It's not really a big man conference, so it's different,'' Sacre said. "They might call some ticky-tack fouls here and there. But when it comes to the Big East and the tournament, they're not going to call a lot. They're going to let a lot slide. So we have to play our style of basketball, which is physical.''
Harris, a junior from Germany, is likely to draw the assignment of defending WVU's Kevin Jones. The 6-8, 260-pound Jones led the Big East in both scoring and rebounding. Sacre is a 260-pound Canadian who will be inside against Deniz Kilicli and Dominique Rutledge.
Sacre doesn't seem concerned over the matchups, even the one with Jones, who on Monday was named a second-team All-America by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
"Kevin Jones is a phenomenal player. He's one of the best Big East players right now,'' Sacre said. "We have a tough job on our hands. But I think we'll be all right. We just have to play our style and try to contain him.
"I think we should match up just fine. Elias has been playing really well and been rebounding great the last couple of games. He's going to come out and play his style of basketball, but I think we match up just fine with them.''
Gonzaga, which is making its 14th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance - WVU is making its fifth straight and eighth in nine years - played one Big East school this season and handily beat Notre Dame, 73-53, at home in late November (The Zags were 15-1 on their home floor, 10-5 elsewhere).
Notre Dame swept West Virginia in two games this season.
"That definitely gives us confidence,'' Pangos said. "But just because Notre Dame beat them doesn't mean it will be the same result for us.''
Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com or follow him at Twitter.com/dphickman1
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