Gonzaga @ Portland preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 19, 2019 ) Gonzaga 89, Portland 66

No. 1 ranked Gonzaga opens defense of its West Coast Conference regular-season championship on Thursday night when it travels to Portland. The Bulldogs, who went a perfect 16-0 in WCC play last season, have won 11 consecutive true-road games, the longest streak in the nation.

Gonzaga cruised to a 93-72 victory over Detroit Mercy in its final non-conference tune-up Monday but head coach Mark Few said the Zags will need to improve with the bulls-eye of being No. 1 on their backs. "We were a little choppy, so we'll have to be better than we were (Monday)," Few told spokesman.com. "Not only is it league play, but carrying the No. 1 ranking with you wherever you go, so you're going to get great effort and great energy from opposing crowds and players, all kinds of crazy efforts out of players you're going against. We'll just have to be a lot better and really kind of embrace this challenge of playing like a No. 1 team." Portland enters WCC play with a four-game losing streak including a 61-46 loss to Ball State on Christmas in the seventh-place game of the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu in their final non-conference tune-up.

TIME: 10 p.m. ET. TV: ROOT Sports

ABOUT GONZAGA (14-1, 0-0 WCC): Point guard Ryan Woolridge, a grad transfer from North Texas, scored a season-high 21 points and connected on 4-of-5 3-pointers in the win over Detroit Mercy en route to WCC Player of the Week honors. He leads the conference in 3-point shooting percentage (54.5 percent) and is also fourth in assists (4.7). Six Zags average in double figures led by 6-11 sophomore forward Filip Petrusev (17.1 points per game) who also leads the team in rebounding (8.0) with junior swingman Corey Kispert second in scoring (14.3) while shooting 43.5 percent from 3-point range.

ABOUT PORTLAND (8-7, 0-0): The Pilots went 0-16 in WCC play last year and their eight wins already surpasses their total for the entire 2018-19 when they finished 7-25. Senior guard Isaiah White, a grad transfer from Maine, leads the team in scoring (13.3) while shooting 36.1 percent from 3-point range while junior guard Jojo Walker also is averaging in double figures (10.2). Tahirou Diabate, a 6-9 junior, leads the team in rebounding (4.8) and recorded a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four steals in the loss to Ball State.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Gonzaga leads the series with Portland, 102-66, and has won 22 of the last 23 games played at the Chiles Center.

2. The Bulldogs are 38-2 against the Pilots under Mark Few.

3. Gonzaga has won 32 straight WCC games on the road, dating back to a 70-67 loss at Saint Mary's on Jan. 21, 2016.

PREDICTION: Gonzaga 91, Portland 70