Iowa’s Gesell, Gonzaga’s Pangos to tango

SEATTLE - Gonzaga point guard Kevin Pangos has his own hashtag.

The all-everything senior with 317 career 3-pointers is also known as #4equals3. As a four-time, first-team all-West Coast Conference player, Pangos owns the basketball community in his adopted town of Spokane, Wash. But the Canadian native has earned that respect with 11.5 points and 5.0 assists a game and shoots 44.4 percent from 3-point range.

Iowa junior Mike Gesell hasn't gained the same acclaim, even if his game is the same. Gesell, a junior, posted perhaps his best game Friday in an 83-52 win against Davidson. Gesell scored 15 points, dished six assists and committed no turnovers, all while defending counterpart Jack Gibbs.

Sunday, Gonzaga (33-2) and Iowa (22-11) battle in an NCAA tournament third-round game at KeyArena, and the spotlight will shine on both Pangos and Gesell.

'He's really steady,” Pangos said about Gesell. 'He didn't have any turnovers and took it when he needed to. He took what the defense gave him and didn't force anything and just got the team in a good offense. So we have to contain him and maybe speed him up a little bit and make him uncomfortable.”

Pangos came up big for Gonzaga in an 86-76 win against North Dakota State on Friday. After scoring just three points in the first half, Pangos finished with 18. Like Gesell, Pangos was efficient with five turnovers and no turnovers. When the Bison cut Gonzaga's lead to six points with 5:45 left, Pangos delivered on a four-point play with a 3-pointer and was fouled. North Dakota State inched closer with two free throws, and Pangos popped another 3-pointer to push Gonzaga's lead to 11.

'It should be a good match-up,” Gesell said. 'I look at (Pangos) and he's kind of like the heart and soul of their team. I look at it as an opportunity to go against one of the better point guards in the country. All year long we've battled a lot of different point guards, a lot of good guards. This is another one. This is an opportunity.”

The players also put others in position to make plays. Pangos ranks second nationally with a 3.7 assist-to-turnover ratio, while Gesell led the Big Ten in that category last year.

'There's a lot of similarities,” Pangos said. 'I think that's what's going to make it fun. We're both going to be going at each other, trying to disrupt each other's rhythm. It will be a fun match-up.”

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