By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

They're everybody's favorite NCAA Tournament giant killers.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs have been ruining NCAA brackets for the past few years by knocking off big-name schools.

ABOUT GONZAGA

• Nickname: Bulldogs • Location: Spokane, Wash. • Record: 23-8, 12-2 West Coast Conference • Bid: At-large • Coach: Mark Few (above) (104-28, fourth year; same overall) • Key players: Blake Stepp (17.9 ppg, 41.5% 3-FG), Ronny Turiaf (15.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg). • Notable: Bing Crosby attended Gonzaga in 1926.

In 1999, they upset Minnesota, Stanford and Florida. In 2000, it was Louisville and St. John's, and in 2001 it was Virginia and Indiana State.

This year, the Bulldogs (23-8) have their sights set on the University of Cincinnati in the first round of the West Regional on Thursday at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.

"We know what we're up against," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "I know (UC) coach (Bob) Huggins personally and consider him a friend. Nobody gets his players to play harder, tougher or more physical than Bob Huggins does."

UC and Gonzaga have met once before, with the Bearcats winning 75-68 in the 1999 Rock-N-Roll Shootout in Cleveland.

Gonzaga, which lost to San Diego in the final of the West Coast Conference championship, is led by 6-foot-4 guard Blake Stepp, the conference player of the year who averages 17.9 points, 5.9 assists and 41.5 percent from 3-point range.

Stepp has tried to pick up where former Gonzaga great Dan Dickau left off.

"He's had a phenomenal year," Few said. "We were coming off a year where Dan Dickau had probably as good a year statistically as anybody has ever had at this school.

"Blake had had almost every bit as good a year. We have depended so much more on Blake than we ever did on Dan."

Gonzaga has a strong inside presence in 6-10 Ronny Turiaf, who averages 15.4 points and 6.2 rebounds. Turiaf could cause problems for a UC team that has no player taller than 6-8.

But Few dismissed the notion floated by Huggins on Sunday night that the Bulldogs had an edge physically.

"He's doing his usual sandbagging deal," Few said.

The Bulldogs, who finished with a Ratings Percentage Index of 43, suffered through some nagging injuries near the end of the regular season, but are healthy now. They're making their fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and sixth overall.

They average 77.1 points per game and shoot 47 percent from the field.

Gonzaga's biggest wins this year were over Utah (71-52) in the Maui Invitational and over then-unbeaten North Carolina State in the Jimmy V Classic.

The Bulldogs lost to Kentucky by eight, to Indiana by one and to Stanford by 10.