The San Francisco -Wachmann Malik Thomas is one of the leaders for the honor of the West Coast Conference Player of the Year and has won four times this season. This upcoming Matchup with The Zags will be one of his toughest tests by the conference game in the ever loud McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane. Thomas spoke about how Gonzaga’s duo by Guard Ryan Nembhard and striker Graham Ike this season as well as the reason for all the success the Dons have achieved so far have performed excellently.

The 6’5 guard moved from the USC Trojans to the city after his second season. Since then, his numbers have increased all along the line, with San Francisco coach Chris Gerlufsen has all his trust in the risk of hit. Born in Fontana, California, the WCC leads with 19.2 points per game with an impressive shootout of 47.0 Field Goal percentage/39.5-point percentage/83.3 free throwing percentage.

Thomas can also do it at the defensive end when he comes into the passing alleys. He heads the conference with 1.8 per game in steals.

The Dons have an impressive four-game winning shop, which contains a victory against Saint Mary’s At War Memorial Gymnasium with 65:64 on February 6. As the country knows, it is nowhere an easy task to beat the Gaels. That was coach Randy Bennett’s first loss of conference this season.

As for the other Dons, 6’2 Senior Guard Marcus Williams (14.4 points per game that the ninth is most in the conference) and the 6,6 Freshman Guard Tyrone Riley IV are the compliment to Thomas on the background . One of the most underestimated in the country. Williams has an average of 2.1 three points per game with a highly efficient percentage of 40.4. Riley IV awarded the WCC newcomer of the week twice this season.

Nembhard has not yet exposed to so many qualified guards in a team during the 2024-25 campaign, which ensures exciting matchup. The General Gonzaga Floor has had its nomination for the Wooden Award Late MidSouge Top 20 observation list. He leads the country in the templates with 9.8 per game and has the second best assist-to-turnover ratio in the nation with 4.39. Nembhard recently also counted his own program -assist -record with 246 and this season.

This first game between San Francisco and Gonzaga seems to be due to who is being shot more successfully by beyond the arch. The ZAGs shoot 34.7 percent of Deep (fourth highest in the conference), while the Dons reach 34.5 percent (fifth highest in the conference). Gonzaga has struggled in the last three games when he achieved 10: 57 against three -point, which leads to ugly 17.5 percent.

Will Gonzaga trainer throw out a zone defense with Active Documents to effectively defend the three-point line? If you deny every shot on the circumference without giving up the simple penetration into the color, this matchup must be at the top of the every defense lawyer to win over the Dons.

Gonzaga has been locked up on the defensive at the end of the last five games. The ZAGs have 62 points or less limited to their opponents during this route.

A big weakness of this man in San Francisco is her free shooting skills as a whole. The Dons are the tenths of the charity in the conference of the charity strips at 70.3. The ZAGs must be aggressive with the ball handler and especially when the ball in the key to bigs like the Senior Center Carlton Linuard Jr. (43.3 percent), the second striker Junjie Wang (58.1 percent) and the senior striker Ndewedo Newbury (73.3 percent). People like Ike, senior striker Ben Gregg and the second striker Braden Huff have to be physically than ever.

Anyone who wins this matchup in the kennel on Thursday has second place in the West Coast Conference. Why is that so important? The two best teams will receive an automatic place in the tournament semi -final in Las Vegas until the end of the regular season.

Gonzaga (18-7, 9-3 conference record) runs San Francisco (20-6, a total of 10-3 conference record) by only half a game in the conference. Saint Mary’s (22: 4, 12: 1 conference record) has a demanding 2.5 game lead for first place over Gonzaga.

Arden Cravalho is a graduate of the Gonzaga University from the Bay Area … Follow him on Twitter @a_cravalho