The preseason favorites in two western conferences bump heads on Monday (midnight ET) when San Diego State plays 14th-ranked Gonzaga on the Bulldogs homecourt in Spokane, Wash.Three things make that game look like a major challenge for San Diego State, the preseason favorite in the Mountain West Conference.First of all, the Aztecs were not particularly impressive in their 69-59 season-opening win at home against the University of San Diego, which was picked to finish last in the West Coast Conference.More significant is the fact that San Diego State may be missing some of the same players who were held out against San Diego. Four regulars sat out that game with injuries, the most important being returning starter Malik Pope, who reinjured his knee before the Aztecs exhibition game.I dont know if well have any of the guys who were unable to play today, San Diego State coach Steve Fisher told the San Diego Union-Tribune after Fridays win. Youd have to say questionable, maybe highly questionable.Last, but not least, is the fact that the game will be played at the McCarthey Athletic Center, a 6,000-seat horror house where the Bulldogs are 163-13 since it opened in 2004.Gonzaga is again the preseason favorite to win the West Coast Conference title, but four starters, including Kyle Wiltjer and Domantas Sabonis, are gone from last seasons NCAA tournament team.The Bulldogs restocked with two transfers from Pac-12 schools -- Jordan Mathews from Cal and Nigel Williams-Goss from Washington. Both were in the starting lineup in the Bulldogs 92-69 victory over Utah Valley in their opener. Also in the starting lineup was 7-foot-1 Przemek Karnowski, who missed all but the first five games last season because of a back injury.Perhaps all the new parts led to the Bulldogs struggling against Utah Valley despite the lopsided score.Its not going to be picture perfect the first time out, but I was happy with how we competed, said Williams-Goss, according to the Spokane Spokesman-Review.Silas Melson led Gonzaga in scoring in the opener with 17 points, followed by Mathews, who had 16 points and hit four 3-pointers. Williams-Goss and Karnowski had 14 apiece in the typical Gonzaga balanced scoring.Utah Valley coach Mark Pope figures its just a matter of time before the Bulldogs get things in order.That is a great team, and theyre going to be way better than this in four months, Pope said, according to the Spokesman-Review. They did a great job with their length, challenging at the rim, and being disciplined to stay out of help and staying with shooters.The fact that Gonzaga had three players 7 feet or taller get playing time in the opener may be a bit intimidating for San Diego State.The Aztecs certainly need to start off better against Gonzaga than they did against San Diego, when they trailed by nine points in the first half.We came out, and we were so excited and so pumped up to play, said junior Trey Kell, according to the Union-Tribune. We just had to come back to Earth and play our normal game.The Aztecs return five of the seven players who started at least 16 games on last seasons San Diego State team that won the conference regular-season title by three games but failed to reach the NCAA tournament.Kell, the teams leading scorer last season, had 23 points in the opener, and Jeremy Hemsley, the No. 2 scorer a season ago, was the teams top scorer with 25. Mark Stone Golden Knights Jersey . 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William Carrier Jersey . -- Matt Rupert scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the London Knights extended their win streak to nine games by defeating the Owen Sound Attack 4-3 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. LONDON -- Once deemed the next big thing in tennis, 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro grew so frustrated after needing three operations on his left wrist that he considered quitting the sport last year at age 27.Too many setbacks.Too many comebacks.He stayed the course, though, and on Tuesday, ranked only 165th, del Potro played his first Grand Slam match in 2 1/2 years, moving into the second round at Wimbledon with a 6-1, 7-5, 6-0 victory over Stephane Robert, a Frenchman ranked 79th.Im enjoying tennis again. Im starting to talk about tennis and (not) about my wrist. Thats important, del Potro said. I would like to stay here on tour for (a few more) years. I think Im close to get that goal.This is del Potros first appearance at the All England Club since losing to Novak Djokovic in the 2013 semifinals.In January 2014, the Argentine lost in the second round of the Australian Open, then two months later had wrist surgery that sidelined him for the rest of that season. Two other procedures cut short his 2015 schedule.Im feeling better, week by week. Im doing all my steps. ... I wake up and I can (plan) my practice and I do it, del Potro said. Thats important for my mind, as well, because Im not thinking about treatments or injuries or doctors or nothing like that.He is right-handed, but he uses his left wrist on two-handed backhands, and it is clear that he is not quite fully comfortable hitting that shot.The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meteer) Del Potros best, most imposing strokes have always been his big, flat forehand and his serve, and that is very much the case nowadays.ddddddddddddAgainst Robert, del Potro managed to produce 20 outright winners off the forehand wing -- and zero with his backhand.Im working hard mentally, too, said del Potro, who beat Roger Federer in the U.S. Open final seven years ago, because I have to deal with some pains and some frustrations when I want to hit a good backhand, and I cannot do it.He figures to face a much sterner test in the second round against No. 4-seeded Stan Wawrinka, who has won the Australian Open and French Open once apiece.They have met five times previously, and del Potro leads the series 3-2, but the most recent encounter was back in 2012. There was one head-to-head match at Wimbledon, in 2008, which Wawrinka won in straight sets.For me, its going to be interesting to play against him. Its been many years, said Wawrinka, who advanced Tuesday by beating 18-year-old American Taylor Fritz 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-4.For sure, I think we (are) all happy that hes back on the tour, hopefully without any injury (so) he can play for long now, Wawrinka said about del Potro. Hes always been a great champion, a great player to watch.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich ' ' '
