Game 7: Michigan vs. Gonzaga Preview

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Michigan and Gonzaga will duel in the desert for $1 million in NIL payouts tonight at the MGM Grand at 9:30 p.m. (ET) on TNT. They’ll also play for the bedazzled blinging basketball of a trophy, and the right to claim their perch as Players Era Championship winners.

Most teams in the country prove their eventual merit in league play, but this is Gonzaga’s time. The Zags are already off to a terrific start at 7-0 with five top-100 wins in the bag — all by double figures.

Mark Few has one of the oldest (2nd in average D1 experience) and deepest (18th in bench minutes) teams in college basketball. It’s a roster that maybe hasn’t picked up significant national buzz, but is favored in every game left on its schedule according to KenPom.

The Zags are ranked No. 1 on KenPom with the No. 4 offense and No. 4 defense. They look like a potential one-seed and could be the best team that Michigan faces all season.

The Zags

The best way to think about this game on paper is that while the teams aren’t identical, they are similar enough that they are going to throw their best punch and see what lands. The beauty of November basketball is that it’s as much about testing your own horsepower as a team as it is about adjusting to the opponent.

There will be conference games in February with higher stakes that require twisting and tweaking the plan to manufacture a road win. That’s not what this is; this is about playing the best version of yourself and seeing how it stacks up against another high-level foe.

Gonzaga wants to play fast (44th average possession length, 88th percentile transition volume) and pound the ball in the paint. Gonzaga is an elite offensive rebounding team (grabbing 40.9% of misses, 16th) that doesn’t turn it over (14.1% of possessions, 44th). The Zags are just an okay 3-point shooting team (34.8%, 127th) on below-average volume (33.8% of attempts, 294th), but they shoot 62.3% (17th) on twos for a 58.9% eFG% (20th).

The three things that Gonzaga does as much as any team in the country are: transition (87th percentile volume), post-ups (98th percentile volume), and putbacks (96th percentile volume).