No. 7 Gonzaga braces for road tilt vs. Pacific (Dec 31, 2016)

Gonzaga is treating the newly devised West Coast Conference schedule as a precursor to the kind of slate its players will face in the NBA or other pro leagues.

The seventh-ranked Bulldogs (13-0 overall, 1-0 WCC) will travel to play Pacific (6-8, 0-1) on Saturday after hosting Pepperdine two nights earlier because the WCC condensed the 18-game schedule into nine weeks instead of the 10 in previous years.

That results in numerous split weeks without having the traditional travel partners. This is the first of five times that Gonzaga will play split weeks with one home game and one away.

"All these guys want to be pros, this is a pro schedule," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said after the Bulldogs defeated Pepperdine 92-62. "Let's act like it then. You have to take great care of your bodies, get rest and plenty of liquids."

Gonzaga guard Josh Perkins echoed Few's comments by saying, "Hey, my goal is to play in the NBA, so this kind of travel schedule will prepare all of us well."

The game at Pacific, coached by first-year coach Damon Stoudamire, is the Bulldogs' first true road contest. The Bulldogs are 5-0 on neutral courts.

Pacific (6-8) is coming off an 80-76 home loss to Portland. The Tigers were without guard David Taylor (ankle), forwards Ilias Theodorou (foot) and Tonko Vuko (ankle). Center Sami Eleraky was also out with an undisclosed injury.

The status of all four of the players is uncertain for Saturday's game.

"(Pacific) played us physical last year," Few said. "They have a lot of seniors, upperclassmen, that alone makes for a tough encounter. Then you hang a big ranking on your back, we have to be better than we were (against Pepperdine)."

Stoudamire, who shares a friendship with Few, is familiar scouting Gonzaga from his previous assistant coaching positions at Memphis and Arizona. Stoudamire commented that he knows Gonzaga's execution on offense revolves around 7-foot-1 center Przemek Karnowski, who either scores regularly off interior feeds or finds teammates with his deft passing ability for a big man.

Karnowski, who averages 12.2 points a game, ranks third on the team with 23 assists. He also shoots 55.3 percent from the field and averages a team-high 6.4 rebounds a game.

Pacific counters with 6-6 forward Anthony Townes as its most success performer inside the paint. He leads the Tigers with 7.2 rebounds a game and shoots 60.3 percent from the field.

"They're a meat-and-potatoes team," Stoudamire said. "They're coming inside out, and it's been like that since (Few) had the job and before he had the job."

Stoudamire hopes senior guard T.J. Wallace can match the 19 points he had against Gonzaga last season at home. Wallace, who has averaged 10.0 points in three career games against the Bulldogs.

Wallace averages 13.3 points a game, second behind forward Ray Bowles' 14.2