Aug. 7 – Gonzaga’s return game against San Diego State is scheduled for Nov. 18.
The Zags, who lost to the Aztecs 84-74 last December at McCarthey Athletic Center, will try to return the favor at Viejas Arena, routinely packed with 12,000 fans and one of the most challenging road environments on the West Coast. CBS Sports Jon Rothstein was the first to report the date of the non-conference game.
The Aztecs present another tough, early test for Gonzaga, projected in the top 10 in most preseason polls.
The Zags haven’t released their full schedule, but in the first month of the season they will host Arizona State on Nov. 10, visit San Diego State eight days later and spend Thanksgiving in the Bahamas with three games in the Battle 4 Atlantis .
Gonzaga has December matchups with Kentucky in Seattle, two-time defending national champion UConn at Madison Square Garden and UCLA at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles before entering West Coast Conference play.
San Diego State will look nothing like the team that rallied from an eight-point deficit to hand Gonzaga a rare setback at home 10 months ago.
The Aztecs lost 75-85% of their minutes, points, rebounds and assists from last season’s roster through graduation and the transfer portal.
The Aztecs, who finished last season with a 26-11 record and reached the Sweet 16 before falling to UConn in a rematch of the 2023 national championship game, have rebuilt with the influx of recruits and transfers.
Starter Reese Waters and backups Miles Byrd and Miles Heide are expected to take on bigger roles. Seven-foot redshirt freshman Magoon Gwath and transfers Nick Boyd (Florida Atlantic), Wayne McKinney III (San Diego) and Jared Coleman-Jones (Middle Tennessee) are candidates to start or play extended minutes.
The 6-foot-5 McKinney, a three-year starter in San Diego, averaged 13.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists last season. He had 17 points, five rebounds and two assists in USD’s loss to Gonzaga last January.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7348981/SSP_97.0.jpg?w=300&resize=300,300&ssl=1 "Microsoft confirms that its Paint 3D app will be discontinued in November")
