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USATSI

After Gonzaga defeated Texas in a highly anticipated early-season matchup last season at The Kennel, the No. 11 Longhorns will be aiming for revenge when they welcome the No. 2 Bulldogs to their new home arena in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday night. Texas christened the Moody Center with wins over UTEP and Houston Christian last week, but this marks the first marquee matchup inside the new on-campus venue.

Gonzaga enters as one of the nation's few battle-tested teams after it outlasted Michigan State 64-63 onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln last week in a Veteran's Day showdown. But the Zags may be hard-pressed to replicate last season's dominant 86-74 win over the Longhorns. The game was a top-five showdown, but Gonzaga led 47-27 at halftime and coasted from there as Texas struggled in first big game under coach Chris Beard.

Now in Year 2, Beard has a mixture of returners, transfers and highly touted freshmen that could be more ready to hang with one of the sport's elite squads at such an early juncture in the season. Containing Drew Timme will be challenge, though. The CBS Sports Preseason Player of the Year scored 37 points for Gonzaga against the Longhorns last season and was the hero of the Zags' comeback win over the Spartans last week.

How to watch Gonzaga vs. Texas live

Date: Wednesday, Nov. 15 | Time: 9:30 p.m. ET
Location: Moody Center -- Austin, Texas
TV: ESPN2 | Live stream: fuboTV (Try for free)

Gonzaga vs. Texas prediction, picks

The Moody Center should be on fire for this one as Texas welcomes a big-name foe to its new arena for the first time. Gonzaga shredded the Longhorns last season, and Texas will be motivated to demonstrate its improvement. Though it's a small sample size, Texas is No. 1 so far this season in defensive efficiency, per KenPom, and should be petter positioned to make life hard on Drew Timme than it was last season when Timme feasted on the Longhorns. Senior forward Dylan Disu will give Texas coach Chris Beard a defensive option against Timme that he didn't have last season as he missed the first chunk of the 2021-22 season due to injury. Prediction: Texas -1

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