Gonzaga Bulldogs Men’s Basketball (21-7, 12-3 WCC) plays host to the Saint Mary’s Gaels (24-4, 14-1) on Saturday, February 21, at 5 p.m. at the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Washington.
It will be senior night for Gonzaga, who lost to Saint Mary’s, 62-58, in the first meeting between the two West Coast Conference rivals. The Gaels rank first in the WCC standings, while Gonzaga ranks second. Gonzaga will need to beat SMC and win out, and need the Gaels to lose one other game to tie SMC for the WCC regular season title.
How to Watch:
Gonzaga vs Saint Mary’s will be televised on ESPN2, which can be accessed on most TV providers starting at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
You can stream ESPN2 directly on ESPN.com, ESPN+ or the ESPN App, but a TV provider login is required. Several other streaming platforms carry ESPN2, including YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, fuboTV, and DirecTV Stream. Some free trials, like on fuboTV, may be available.
SWX will be in The Kennel to provide team reaction and highlights on SWXLocalSports.com.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs open up at 4.5-point favorites over Saint Mary’s, and the over/under is not yet out.
Gonzaga Men’s Basketball Game Notes:
THE OPENING TIP
– In the final home game of the season, Gonzaga welcomes Saint Mary’s in a clash of the top two teams in the West Coast Conference Saturday at 5 p.m.
– GU is coming off a dominant 84-63 win at Washington State Wednesday. Nolan Hickman had 23 points, with four made threes and five assists, to lead the Zags to their fifth straight win. Graham Ike contributed 17 points and 13 rebounds.
– Ryan Nembhard was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Week. He is fourth in WCC history with 272 assists this season, 12 away from the league record. The senior set a new WCC record for most assists in a single conference play season, he is currently at 142 (previous record was 136).
– Nembhard became the 51st player in NCAA Div. 1 history to reach 800 career assists, and is now at 810. His 272 assists are first in the nation, to only 64 turnovers. He broke his own single season assist program record. Nembhard’s 9.7 assists per game also tops the country. His 4.25 assist-to-turnover ratio is third.
– As a team, the Zags are first in the nation in assists per game at 20.0 and assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.07.
– Gonzaga is second in the country averaging 87.8 points per game, second in field goal percentage (50.0), and fourth in free-throw percentage (80.5).
– Since Jan. 24, Bart Torvik computer ratings ranks GU sixth in the nation, with the 13th best offense and 12th best defense.
– Khalif Battle is third from the free-throw line at 93.6 percent (1st in WCC). Graham Ike (58.4%) and Braden Huff (57.3%) are first and second in the WCC in field goal percentage.
– Ike is fourth in the WCC averaging 16.8 points, while shooting a WCC-best 58.7 percent from the field in league games.
He is second grabbing 8.3 rebounds per conference game.
– Gonzaga clinched its 28th straight 20-win season. The Zags’ 28-straight 20-win seasons ranks as the second longest active run in the country. (Kansas 33)
– Mark Few was named one of 17 finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a first-time nominee.
– Ryan Nembhard was named to the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Top 10 Watch List. Graham Ike was named to the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Top 10 Watch List.
– Graham Ike and Nembhard Named to Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watchlist.
SCOUTING THE GAELS
– Saint Mary’s enters the weekend as the conference leader with one league loss at 14-1 league play.
– SMC won its fourth straight game, beating Portland at home Wednesday, 79-66. Paulius Murauskas led the Gaels with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Augustas Marciulionis added 16 points. Mikey Lewis and Harry Wessels chipped in 12 and 11 points off the bench. Jordan Ross had four assists.
– Saint Mary’s is third in the country in rebound margin (9.6), fifth in scoring defense (60.7), and seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.68).
– Four Gaels average double-digit scoring led by Marciulionis’s 14.4 points per outing. The defending WCC Player of the Year is third in the league adding 6.2 assists and 1.5 steals.
– Saxen, the reigning league defender of the year, enters the game No. 3 in the nation in offensive rebounds per game at 4.18. The senior also averages10.4 points and 1.4 steals.
– Arizona transfer Paulius Murauskas is scoring 13 points per game. He leads the league pulling down 8.3 rebounds per outing, with Saxen second at 7.9.
SERIES INFO
– This is the 118th all-time meeting between Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s. The Bulldogs lead the series 82-36, winning 26 of the last 34 meetings.
– Gonzaga is 57-16 against SMC under Mark Few.
– In last season’s meeting in Spokane, Aidan Mahaney scored 20 points and SMC rallied late to beat GU 64-62. Ryan Nembhard had 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting to lead the Bulldogs, while Graham Ike had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
– Gonzaga is 37-11 all-time at home against SMC.
– Saint Mary’s won the first matchup this season, 62-58, in Moraga on Feb. 1. Graham Ike led the Bulldogs with 24 points and eight rebounds. Ryan Nembhard added 11 points, 12 assists and three steals. The game featured six ties and six lead changes, GU had the lead with 6:15 remaining in regulation, and the score was tied at 58 with 50 seconds left.
– The Bulldogs are 27-21 all-time at Saint Mary’s.
– The Bulldogs won the first all-time meeting between the programs, 94-77, in Spokane in 1955.
– The Zags are 18-4 against SMC in the WCC Tournament, winning eight of the last 10 meetings in the event. The teams have met in the tournament 13 of the past 15 years.
THE BEST IN THE WEST
– Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s have finished in the top two of the West Coast Conference standings in 12 of the past 13 seasons, and 15 of the last 19 seasons. (SMC: second in 2021-22 and 2022-23, fourth in 2013-14 and third in 2006-07)
– The last 23 regular season titles have been won or shared by Gonzaga or Saint Mary’s. The Zags have won or shared 21, while SMC has won or shared three.
– The last 14 WCC Tournament titles have been won by either Gonzaga or SMC. GU has 11 of those 14 titles.
UP NEXT
– The 104th meeting between Gonzaga and Santa Clara Tuesday at 8 p.m. in Santa Clara.
– Gonzaga owns a 71-32 advantage in the series.
– GU has won 50 of the last 54 against the Broncos.
– The Zags are 47-6 against SCU under Mark Few.
– Gonzaga is 26-24 all-time at Santa Clara, but have won 22 of their last 24 at SCU.
– In last season’s matchup at Santa Clara, the Broncos scored the game-winning basket with 4.6 seconds left to pull off the 77-76 upset over No. 23 GU. Ryan Nembhard scored 21 points, and Braden Huff added 14 points.
– In the meeting earlier this season in Spokane, the Broncos upset No. 16 Gonzaga, 103-99. Nolan Hickman led Gonzaga with a career-high 24 points, hitting a career-high six 3-pointers. Graham Ike scored 21 points, and Ryan Nembhard had 16 points and a career-high 15 assists to one turnover.
– Santa Clara won the first all-time meeting between the programs, 67-62, in Santa Clara on Feb. 3, 1959.
20/28 VISION
– GU has clinched its 28th straight 20-win season.
– The Zags’ 28-straight 20-win seasons rank second for the longest active run in the country. (Kansas 33)
– Prior to the previous 27 seasons, the Bulldogs reached 20 wins in a season eight times since 1907-08.
– Gonzaga has won at least 25 games in each of the last 17 consecutive seasons, which is a NCAA Div. 1 record.
GETTING DEFENSIVE
– Since losses to Oregon State and Santa Clara, the Zags have held seven of their eight opponents under 65 points and 41 percent shooting. The exception was San Francisco scoring 77 points at 43 percent shooting from the field.
– Gonzaga was 7-1 over that eight game stretch with the loss coming at Saint Mary’s 62-58. The Gaels were 38 percent from the field in that game.
– The Bulldogs held five of those opponents under 39 percent shooting from the field.
– Over that eight game span, opponents are shooting 29.2 percent from behind-the-arc.
HEATING UP
– Over the past eight games, Michael Ajayi is averaging 10.4 points per game, with six double-digit scoring efforts.
– He is shooting 60.8 percent from the field over that span, including 28-of-42 (67 percent) from inside-the-arc.
– The senior is adding 7.8 rebounds per outing as well.
– Nolan Hickman has scored 41 points in the last two games, including 23 points in the win at Washington State, which was one point off his career-high.
– Hickman is shooting 15-of-23 (65 percent) from the field in the last two games, while making eight of his 11 threes (72.7 percent). He’s made four threes in both games.
– The Seattle native had seven assists versus Pepperdine and five at Washington State as well.
A CLOSER LOOK
– Gonzaga’s seven losses were by a combined 34 points and all by single digits, with the largest margin being eight points in overtime away from home losses.
– All but two of the Bulldogs’ wins have been by double-digits, the second game of the season against Arizona State (88-80) and at Pepperdine on Dec. 30 (89-82).
– Three of the losses have been in overtime and two have been by one possession.
– GU led for double-digit minutes in five of those seven games, and the majority of the time in three.
– Gonzaga led in the second half at some point in each loss but the UConn game, and the Bulldogs and Huskies were tied in the second half of that matchup.
– GU trailed at half in only four of those games, three by one possession, by three to UConn, by two to UCLA, and by one at Oregon State.
– The Zags rank 342nd out of 364 in KenPom’s luck ratings.
GONZAGA LOVES FEBRUARY
– Since 2016-17, the Bulldogs are 63-6 in the month of February, that 91 percent win percentage tops the nation over that span.
– GU is 34-4 in February since 2020-21, which is second in the country, with all four losses to Saint Mary’s. Vermont’s 30-3 leads the nation. SMC is 13th at 27-8.
– Over the last 10 seasons, Gonzaga leads the country in February at 76-9 (89.4 percent).
