SPOKANE -- The NCAA Selection Committee sent Gonzaga (26-6) clear across the country to Buffalo, New York to play Florida State (22-9) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
Tip-off is set for 4:10 p.m. on Friday and the game can only be seen on KREM 2.
Gonzaga is the eight-seed in the West region while Florida State is the nine-seed.
The winner will play either top-seeded Syracuse and Vermont, which is the sixteen-seed, on Sunday.
The Zags had a shot at staying in Spokane for the opening rounds to play at Veterans Memorial Arena on Friday, but their loss to Saint Mary's in the West Coast Conference championship game cost them that chance, according to many college basketball experts. Gonzaga could have played in Spokane because Washington State is the host school and the arena is not the Bulldogs' home floor.
However, they're now playing a tough Seminole team from the ACC that has quality wins over Marquette and Georgia Tech (twice) this year.
Florida State is a deep, balanced team that has five players that average at least eight points per game and they regularly go eight to nine players deep in every game.
The Seminoles are led by 7'1" sophomore center Solomon Alabi who averages 11.6 points per game and 6'9" sophomore forward Chris Singleton, who was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and is the team's leading rebounder with 7.2 per game while also averaging 10.6 points.
Florida State lost in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament on Friday to North Carolina State, 58-52. The Seminoles average just 68 points per contest.
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