Tar Heels' visit highlights GU men's schedule

SPOKANE — Nonconference foes from the ACC, Pac-12 and SEC highlight the Gonzaga men’s basketball team’s 15-game non-conference schedule for the upcoming season, which was released Monday.

The non-conference slate features nine games inside the McCarthey Athletic Center. During the first two months of the season, the Zags face a potential of four teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season, and three more that played in the postseason.

Gonzaga also is a participant in this year’s Battle 4 Atlantis, which includes its most talented field ever, on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

Besides that tournament, the nonconference schedule is highlighted by a three-game stretch in December against Washington, Arizona and North Carolina, with the latter visiting Spokane on Wednesday, Dec. 18.

The Zags open their schedule on Nov. 1, for the second straight season with an exhibition against Lewis-Clark State. GU starts the regular season at home versus Alabama State on Nov. 5. It’s the earliest regular season game Gonzaga has played since records date back to the 1958-59 slate, and the first matchup between the two schools.

Four days later, the Zags welcome fellow Southwestern Athletic Conference member, Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

On Nov. 12, the Bulldogs host North Dakota for the second time in the past three seasons. Gonzaga outlasted the Fighting Hawks in overtime in 2017, 89-83. The Zags are 11-0 against current members from the Summit League all-time.

For the second straight season the Zags face Texas A&M on Nov. 15. Last year, GU cruised to a 94-71 victory in Spokane on the same day. The top three scorers from last season’s squad return for the Aggies in 2019-20. The programs have split the two all-time meetings, but this will be Gonzaga’s first visit to the nearly 13,000-seat Reed Arena in College Station, Texas.

Texas-Arlington returns to Spokane for the second straight year. This year’s matchup is an on-campus game for the Battle 4 Atlantis.

CSU Bakersfield also comes back to the Kennel in 2019-20, on Nov. 23. Last season, GU beat the Roadrunners, 89-54.

The Zags and Southern Miss meet for the first time ever in the opening round of the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis on Nov. 27 in the Bahamas. The Golden Eagles went 20-13 last season, finishing in a tie for second in Conference USA at 11-7. GU is 6-0 all-time versus current members from Conference USA.

Gonzaga will face Seton Hall or Oregon in the second game of the Battle 4 Atlantis on Nov. 28. Michigan, Iowa State, North Carolina and Alabama are on the other side of the bracket.

For the third straight season, GU will host Texas Southern on Dec. 4. The Bulldogs have won all four previous meetings between the programs, including last season’s 104-67 win in Spokane.

Gonzaga resumes its cross-state rivalry with UW on Dec. 8, when the Bulldogs head to Seattle. The Huskies won 27 games in 2018-19, and ended their season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Gonzaga has won 12 of the last 13 meetings between the programs, including the last five. In 2017, the Bulldogs won at Washington in front of a sold-out crowd, 97-70. GU used late heroics to hold off the Huskies in Spokane, 81-79, last season.

Another Pac-12 matchup follows on Dec. 14 at Arizona. The Zags have won the last two meetings versus Arizona, including last season’s 91-74 semifinal win in the Maui Invitational. The Wildcats held off Gonzaga in overtime in the last matchup in Tucson, 66-63, in 2014. Arizona won 17 games last season and welcomes in one of its best recruiting classes in 2019-20.

On Dec. 18, North Carolina makes its first-ever trip to the McCarthey Athletic Center. The Tar Heels won 29 games last season, before falling to Auburn in the Sweet 16. UNC beat Gonzaga last year in Chapel Hill, 103-90. The Tar Heels and Bulldogs have played three other times — in Madison Square Garden in the 2006 pre-season NIT, in the 2009 NCAA South Region Sweet 16 in Memphis, and in 2017 in Phoenix in the NCAA championship game. North Carolina lost a bulk of its scoring from last season, but bring in another talented recruiting class in 2019-20. The Tar Heels are ranked in the Top-20 of several early media rankings. The matchup inside the McCarthey Athletic Center features the top two winningest active coaches, Mark Few and Roy Williams.

Eastern Washington and Detroit Mercy close the non-conference slate on Dec. 21 and 30. Gonzaga leads the all-time series with EWU, 53-7, but the programs have not met since a 77-69 Zag win in 2012. Detroit Mercy’s Antoine Davis is back for his sophomore year, after being one of the nation’s top-scorers last season averaging 26.1 points per game.

Gonzaga’s game times and television information will be released in the near future.

2019-20 Gonzaga Men’s Basketball Schedule

(home games in CAPS; * — WCC game)

Nov. 1, LEWIS-CLARK ST. (exhibition); Nov. 5, ALABAMA STATE; Nov. 9, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF; Nov. 12, NORTH DAKOTA ST.; Nov. 15, at Texas A&M Nov. 19, TEXAS-ARLINGTON; Nov. 23, CSU-BAKERSFIELD; Nov. 27-29

Battle 4 Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas.

Dec. 4, TEXAS SOUTHERN; Dec. 8, at Washington; Dec. 14, at Arizona; Dec. 18, NORTH CAROLINA; Dec. 21, EASTERN WASHINGTON; Dec. 30, DETROIT MERCY

Jan. 2, * at Portland; Jan. 4, * PEPPERDINE; Jan. 9, * at San Diego; Jan. 11, * at Loyola Marymount; Jan. 16, * SANTA CLARA; Jan. 18, * BYU; Jan. 25, * PACIFIC; Jan. 30. * at Santa Clara

Feb. 1, * at San Francisco; Feb. 6, * LOYOLA MARYMOUNT; Feb. 8, * at Saint Mary’s; Feb. 15, * at Pepperdine; Feb. 20, * SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 22, * at BYU; Feb. 27, * SAN DIEGO; Feb. 29, * SAINT MARY’S

March 5-12, West Coast Conference Championships, Las Vegas, Nev.