SALT LAKE CITY - Pressure packed tournament games and hordes of media members are nothing new to Ronny Turiaf.

Turiaf, a sophomore forward for Gonzaga who played with the French National team when he was just 15-years-old, said Friday the NCAA Tournament is similar to the European Championships where he competed at as a teenager.

"We were the underdog there and we're the underdog now," said Turiaf about Saturday's second-round game with the No. 1 seeded Arizona in the Huntsman Center.

Born in Le Robert Martinique, Turiaf left his family when he was 14 to try to play professional basketball in Paris. He attended Insep, which is the National Institute of Physical Education.

"I went to make my basketball my job," Turiaf said. "It was hard to leave home being so young."

But the cornrowed forward who speaks four languages has made the best of his opportunity.

His team won many local tournaments where he averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds per game. He was also a member of the 2000 U-18 French team that captured the European Championships, playing alongside fellow countryman and current NBA point guard Tony Parker.

When it came down to the next step in his life he had a decision to make.

Schools in high-profile conferences like the ACC and the Big East were recruiting Turiaf but that type of college atmosphere was not what he was after. He wanted a smaller school where he could get more one-on one attention.

Enter Gonzaga.

"Ronny is a kid that buys into the small school," said Zags head coach Mark Few, who has had success in the past recruiting players from overseas. "It became a win-win situation for both of us."

Contributing in just a minor role in his first season in Spokane, Wash., he has emerged as one of the most dominant big men in the West Coast Conference.

In the Bulldogs opening round game of the tournament on Thursday against Cincinnati, Turiaf had a game high 22 points with 16 of them coming from the free-throw line.

"Last year I was like the 6 or 7th guy off the bench and my role was to bring energy into the game," Turiaf said. "This year my role has kind of changed and it feels good to be apart of what Gonzaga does."

Now opposing coaches are starting to take notice.

"He is just relentless, he keeps coming at you," said UA associate head coach Jim Rosborough, who is in charge of scouting for the game against Gonzaga. "In the second half with two or three seconds on the shot clock he put up a crazy shot and 'boom' he went right back up and got it and went up and got fouled.

"We saw him on tape last year and he has improved tremendously."

With a frontline that has 6-foot-8 Zach Gourde, 6-foot-8 Cory Violette and the 6-foot-10 Turiaf, the Zags have the capability to give the Wildcats nightmares under the basket.

Playing in the role of the spoiler once again on Saturday, Turiaf said he is just excited about the opportunity.