LSU’s first real measuring stick arrives Saturday afternoon in Spokane. The Tigers, still unbeaten at 3-0, will face No. 14 Gonzaga at 12:30 p.m. PT at the Spokane Arena, a place that has already turned into a test for visiting teams.
Will Wade did not pretend the trip was a routine nonconference stop. He said Gonzaga has “another phenomenal team” and that he and LSU were the only ones “dumb enough to sign up” to play there, a line that fits the stakes in this matchup better than a tidy preview ever could. LSU has opened fast, beating the LSU-New Orleans Privateers, Texas Southern Tigers and Louisiana Tech Bulldogs by an average of 41.3 points, but it still received no votes in the Week 2 Poll.
That gap is what makes Saturday matter. Gonzaga is 2-0 and ranked No. 14, and the Bulldogs have made Spokane Arena look like an extension of their own home floor. They beat Oklahoma 88-72 there last year in front of 12,233, the largest crowd in the arena’s history, and two years ago they handled Baylor by 38 points in the season-opener at the same venue. Wade knows the building from the other side too; two years ago, his McNeese State team lost to Gonzaga by 21 points in the NCAA Tournament.
The game also arrives with LSU trying to prove that this roster is more than a hot start. Mark Few said Wade has “a heck of a roster” and called it maybe the second most talented group in college basketball behind Duke, a striking assessment for a team that is still being sorted out in public view. Chauncey Wiggins is now eligible for LSU, and the Tigers also have Abdi Bashir, Jr., Skyy Clark and Donovan Dent among the new pieces carrying the load.
What happens next is simple: LSU gets its first major road test of the season, and it comes against a ranked Gonzaga team in one of the sport’s most difficult settings. If the Tigers are as good as the early numbers suggest, Saturday is where that has to show up.
