NCAA Tournament | 7-seed Zags to open with Davidson

For the 10th straight Selection Sunday, the Gonzaga Bulldogs watched as their name appeared on the screen, a sight that coach Mark Few said gives him the same thrill as it did the first time.

"To make it for 10 straight years is probably the greatest thing we've been able to do here, I think," said Few, an assistant the first year of the streak, and head coach the last nine.

What Few saw pop up next, however, just about made him sick: a first-round game against Davidson College, holder of the nation's longest winning streak at 22 games. And in Raleigh, N.C., about 120 miles from the Davidson campus.

Gonzaga, granted a No. 7 seed in the Midwest bracket, and No. 10 Davidson will meet at 9:25 a.m. Friday Pacific time.

"We are basically going to be playing a road game," Few said. "So we are going to have to prepare for that. We've had that situation before where we have been able to play in Seattle, so that's very advantageous."

Few, however, didn't protest too vehemently, talking of the tough job the NCAA tournament committee has putting together the field and saying, "When you are up to that seeding level, I'm not sure you deserve any breaks."

No matter the locale, this figured to be a tough game for Gonzaga. While Davidson romped through a Southern Conference field that pales in comparison to many others, but Few said, "To win 22 straight, I don't care who you are playing. That's amazing."

Davidson went 20-0 in Southern Conference play, then won the league tournament to earn an NCAA tournament berth for the third straight season.

Davidson's best non-conference win came at Winthrop, the team that will play Washington State in the first round, a 60-47 win in an ESPN Bracketbuster matchup. Winthrop will meet Washington State in the first round.

But Davidson also turned in a couple of notable scares, losing at North Carolina 72-68 after leading much of the season half; taking an 18-point lead against UCLA before losing 75-63; and staying close with Duke throughout before losing to the Blue Devils 79-73.

Davidson also has some star quality in 6-foot-3 sophomore guard Stephen Curry, who averages 25.1 points per game shooting 43.8 percent from the three-point rangeline.

The son of 16-year NBA veteran Dell Curry, the 6-3 Stephen Curry was a lightly regarded recruit out of high school, offered only a chance to walk on at his dad's alma mater of Virginia Tech before accepting a scholarship offer to Davidson.

"He's a future NBA guy who can really, really shoot the ball," Few said.

Curry should provide half of an intriguing matchup of two conference players of the year when he faces off with Gonzaga guard Jeremy Pargo.

Pargo said he watched Curry a few times this year and was impressed by "how hard he plays and how much he works to get himself open. We've got to find a way to slow down a guy like that."

Curry is joined in a backcourt that is the strength of Davidson's team by senior Jason Richards, who leads the nation in assists at 8.0 per game.

"They always have very skilled shooters, and they shoot a lot of threes and make a lot of threes," Few said. "Yet they like to get up and down. They don't just walk up and down the floor."

Davidson has an enrollment of just 1,700 and is located in Davidson, N.C., which has about 9,100 residents and is just north of Charlotte.

Davidson has been a perennial Southern Conference power under 19-year coach Bob McKillop. This will be its fifth NCAA tournament appearance since 1998, and third in a row, having also made one NIT appearance in that span. But Davidson hasn't won an NCAA tournament game since 1969, when Lefty Driesell was coach.

Still, Few noted Davidson's appearances the last two years (competitive losses to Ohio State in 2006 and Maryland in 2007) and said, "They are not in awe going to the NCAA tournament."

Neither, of course, will be Gonzaga, which is tied for the sixth-longest streak of NCAA tourney appearances behind only Arizona (24), Kansas (19), Kentucky (17), Duke (13) and Michigan State (11).

This appearance will be a little different, as it is just the second to come as an at-large pick after the Zags were upset in the West Coast Conference tournament final by San Diego.

"We did some things we have been trying to stay away from in terms of turning the ball over and not sharing the ball as much," Pargo said. "But I'm sure the coaches will have a scheme for us to get back on track. I'm sure we all are seeing the road and what can be ahead for us."

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com.