Bryant takes on No. 14/14 Gonzaga to start lengthy roadtrip, Friday at 8:30 p.m.

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's basketball team begins a four-game roadtrip
spanning 10 days when it takes on No. 14/14 Gonzaga Friday at 8:30 p.m. eastern time on ROOT Sports, ESPN3 or Campus Insiders. 

THE SERIES
Friday's contest marks the second in the battle of the West Coast and East Coast Bulldogs. Gonzaga took the first matchup of the series in the 2013 season opener, 100-76, in Spokane. 

SCOUTING GONZAGA
With 18 consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament and 17 of the last 18 West Coast Conference titles, the No. 14/14 Zags have built a powerhouse under head coach Mark Few. Now in his 18th season, Few has yet another talented squad, desite losing four starters from last year's team. The Zags are off to an impressive 2-0 start and are led by the return of two seniors. Guard Jordan Mathews was named to the Jerry West Award Watch List and leads the team with 16.5 points over his first two games on a .550 clip from the floor and a blazing .643 clip from distance. Redshirted senior center, 7-foot-1 Przemek Karnowski missed all but five games last year, but is back and averaging 11.0 points and 6.5 boards, as he was named Preseason All-WCC. Junior transfer guard Nigel Williams-Goss is second with 12.0 points per game and leads the team with nine assists over the first two outings. The Zags also have a pair of outstaning freshmen bigmen off the bench in seven footer Zach Collins and 6-foot-10 Killian Tillie. The two are combining for 20.5 points and 15.5 caroms while shooting 63.0 percent from the field.  

CURRENT BULLDOGS IN THE BRYANT-GONZAGA SERIES
There are three current Bulldogs on both sides that were part of the first matchup of the series in 2013. On the Bryant side, senior forward Dan Garvin netted two points in the 11 minutes off the bench, while junior Bosko Kostur talled four points and four rebounds in 16 minutes as a reserve. For Gonzaga, bigman Przemek Karnowski was incredibly efficient, scoring 10 points in just 12 minutes on the floor. 

LAST TIME OUT
It took the Bulldogs slightly longer than exoected to seperate in Tuesday's home opener against Salve Regina, but they finally did so late in the first half. Leading by just three points more than 10 minutes into the frame, Bryant went on a 14-0 run and took a 20-point lead into the break. The hosts led by no less than 20 and as many as 32 in the second frame, and won convincingly, 88-61. Freshmen Sabastian Townes and Adam Grant paced the Bulldogs with 16 points each, as the former had eight boards and the latter had four two assists and four rebounds. Of the 11 Bulldogs that scored, five were in double-figrures. Sophomore Nisre Zouzoua added 13 points and three triples, freshman point guard Ikenna Ndugba had 10 points and junior forward Gus Riley scored 11 off the bench while sinking five free throws. 

QUICK HITS
» Double the Digits, Double the Fun:  After not having five double-digit scorers in a game since Dec. 9, 2014 against Army, the Bulldogs produced five double-figure scorers in three times last season, including three of four games with the last coming at Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 9. Five Bulldogs scored in double-figures against Salve Regina on Tuesday, marking the 20th time that has happened in the program's Division I history, as Bryant is 18-2 in such games. 

» Wide Margin: The 27-point victory over Salve Regina tied Bryant's Division I record for its largest victory, having done so four times (twice against the Seahawks). The Bulldogs also had 10 steals against Salve, marking the first time they have theft an opponent since Dec. 5, 2015. 

» You Can Tell Everybody, I'm the Dan, I'm the Dan, I'm the Dan: Senior forward Dan Garvin may have had just four points in Bryant's season opener at Notre Dame on Saturday, but he also pulled down a game-best 12 rebounds. The 12 caroms are not only the most by a Bulldog in a season opener in the program's Division I history, but they are the most by a Bulldog in a
season opener since 2003. 

» Hulk Bash: Sabastian Townes was stellar off the bench in his collegiate debut on Saturday against the Fighting Irish. The rookie had 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting and a 6-for-11 effort at the line. He scored 10 points in the second half and tied sophomore Nisre Zouzoua and Alex Francis ('14) for the most points scored by a Bryant freshman in his debut in the program's Division I history. 

WATCH ME TAKE ON THAT RANKED FOE
The Bulldogs take on their first nationally ranked opponent of the season Friday in No. 14/14 Gonzaga. Friday's contest marks the seventh time the Bulldogs have faced off against a nationally ranked foe in its short Division I tenure. Bryant's first contest against a national ranking came in 2012-13, when it opened up on the road against preseason favorite Indiana. The Black and Gold challenged two ranked foes in 2013-14 in No. 15/14 Gonzaga and No. 3/2 Ohio State, and took on No. 17/15 UConn to start the 2014-15 campaign. Bryant is still looking for its first win over a ranked opponent. 

THE PUPPIES GROW UP SO FAST
this year's freshmen have taken little time to make their mark on the team. Following in the footsteps of reigning NEC Rookie of the Year Marcel Pettway and fellow NEC All-Rookie Team selection Nisre Zouzoua, guards Ikenna Ndugba (9.0 ppg),  Adam Grant (14.5 ppg) and Tanner Johnson (2.5 ppg) along with bigman Sebastian Townes (16.0 ppg) have fit into the mix to make up 56.0 percent of the team's point production this year. Townes leads the squad with a 71.4 shooting percentage and he, Ndugba and Grant have combined for five starts through the first two games. 

NO TIME TO EXHALE
In addition to the season opening matchup with RV/RV Notre Dame, Bryant faces schools across 11 different conferences before diving into Northeast Conference play. The Bulldogs face four NCAA Tournament qualifiers in 2016-17, including three over the first month of the season. The Black and Gold head to Washington for the start of a nine-day roadtrip which begins at West Coast powerhouse Gonzaga on Nov. 18. The Zags are No. 14 according to the AP Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll and the contest kicks off a trip that concludes with Big Ten constituent Northwestern the day after Thanksgiving. Bryant returns home on Nov. 30 to welcome NCAA opening-round winner and defending Ivy League champion Yale. December opens with a journey to Ohio University, with the final non-league road test coming at Navy on Dec. 6.    

WHEN THE LIGHTS COME ON
Junior wing Hunter Ware was feeling it when the lights shined at their brightest in 2015-16. Of his four 20-point outings last season, two came in TV games. Ware began the season scoring 24 points against then No. 5/4 Duke on an ESPN3 broadcast, then netted a career-high 26 points at Michigan on Dec. 23 as part of a BIG 10 Network telecast. Ware played at Harvard on ESPN3, at then No. 15/18 Providence on Fox Sports 1, at Wagner on CBS Sports Network, against Robert Morris on ESPN3 and against Fairleigh Dickinson on MSG+, scoring 10, 14, 11, 15 and 14 points, respectively. Strangely enough, his zero points at RV/RV Notre Dame on Saturday marked the first time in his career that he was held scoreless in a game in which he either played more than 14 minutes or attempted more than four shots (was 0-for-6 in 23 minutes). 

LOOKING TO REBOUND 
Bryant outmuscled the Irish on the glass in the season opener, 37-34, marking the first time it had opened a season on the right side of the glass battle in a season opener since becoming a Division I member. The Bulldogs were outrebounded in 25 of their 31 games last season, losing the battle on the glass in each of the first 12 games to begin the year. It marked the first time in the program's Division I history the team had opened a campaign on the short side on the glass in 12-straight outings. The last time the Bulldogs were outboarded in more than seven-straight games at any point in a season was back in 2011-12, when the team lost the battle on the boards in nine-consecutive games from Nov. 27-Jan. 5. To find the last time the squad was outrebounded in 12 or more straight contests, you must look all the way back to the 2009-10 season, when the Bulldogs lost the board battle in 20 in a row from Dec. 3-Feb. 13. 
  
BULLDOGS ANNOUNCE 2016-17 NATIONAL BROADCAST PACKAGE
The Bryant University men's basketball team will be featured on live national and regional broadcasts six times throughout the 2016-17 season, including three times as part of the 33-game NEC TV package. The Bulldogs will appear on ACC Network Extra against Notre Dame to open the season on Nov. 12. Bryant will play against No. 14/14 Gonzaga on Nov. 18 on ROOT Sports and ESPN3 before taking on Northwestern on Nov. 25 as part of a BTN2GO.com broadcast. The matchup at Ohio on December 3 can be seen on ESPN3 and the Bulldogs will then get national exposure during a nine-day timeframe in league action. The team opens its trio of NEC TV contests with a road matchup against Central Connecticut on Jan. 25 (MSG+/FCS) before hosting Fairleigh Dickinson on Jan. 28 on MSG and Fox College Sports. Bryant will then play in the first of two NEC matchups featured on ESPNU when it visits Mount St. Mary's on Feb. 2.

ON TAP
The Bulldogs continue their four-game roadtrip and resume Legends Classic play in the Evergreen state when they take on host Eastern Washington in the Sub-regional rounds on Monday at 9:05 eastern time.