The Gonzaga men’s basketball team is set for three games in as many days down in The Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, starting with a matchup against West Virginia at Imperial Arena on Wednesday.

The Bulldogs (5-0) head into the multi-team event already boasting wins over Baylor, Arizona State and San Diego State to start the 2024-25 campaign. In their last outing, they held Long Beach State to a season-low in points to come away with an 84-41 victory at the McCarthey Athletic Center last week. Five players scored in double-figures, though their head coach was more impressed with the effort they showed defensively to hold the Beach to 17-of-54 (31.5%) from the field and 2-of-20 (10%) from 3-point range.

Offensively, the Zags rank No. 1 in the country in efficiency and boast the lowest turnover rate in the country, according to KenPom.com. Five players put up more than 11 points per outing, led by Ike at 14.6 points.

“They’re elite at a lot of different things,” West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries said of the Zags on Tuesday. “Very good team, very balanced team. Tremendous challenge to try to slow them down as people have seen, as they’ve gotten off to a great start with this early season. But again I think they’re they’re certainly deserving of their early season accolades and rankings.”

Javon Small, a 6-foot-3 senior who transferred from Oklahoma State, paces West Virginia at 15.5 points and 4.0 assists per outing. He’s 20-of-47 (42.6%) from the field and 10-of-23 (43.5%) from the 3-point line. After recording five steals in the 43-point win over Iona, Small is top 10 in the country in steals per game (3.0) and ranks top 25 in steal percentage (5.5%) according to KenPom. The South Bend, Indiana, native also finished with 23 points, five rebounds, five assists and one block to lead the Mountaineers to an 86-43 win over Iona.

Senior wing Tucker DeVries, a two-time Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year who followed his father to Morgantown, West Virginia, this offseason, chips in 13.5 points and 2.5 steals per game. The Drake transfer excels at disrupting passing lanes and can knock down 3-pointers (11-of-27, 40.7% this season).

“Pressure defense, very athletic and handsy and good rim protection,” Mark Few said of the Mountaineers. “And then very opportunistic on the offensive end. They got a great offensive player in DeVries, but they got some really nice shooters, so, kind of all the above.”

HOW TO WATCH GONZAGA VS. WEST VIRGINIA

Who: Gonzaga and West Virginia tip off the 2024 Battle 4 Atlantis

When: 11:30 a.m. PT/2:30 p.m. EST | Wednesday, Nov. 27

Where: Imperial Arena at Atlantis Resort | Nassau, Bahamas

TV: ESPN

Betting: Gonzaga -15.5 (-110); O/U 155.5 (-110)

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

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