Gonzaga (22-7, 14-3) at BYU (22-8, 13-4)
Game 31 | Feb. 27 | 5 p.m. PT/6 p.m. MT | Marriott Center | Provo, Utah
SERIES: Gonzaga leads, 9-5
LAST MEETING: 2016 - BYU won 69-68 in Spokane, Wash.
TELEVISION: ESPN2 (Beth Mowins, Brad Daugherty)
RADIO: 1510 KGA/Sirius XM/TuneIn App (Tom Hudson, Matt Santangelo)
LIVE VIDEO: WatchESPN.com | LIVE STATS: GoZags.com | LIVE AUDIO: 1510kga.com
NOTES: Gonzaga - BYU

STORYLINES
- Last time out: Gonzaga swept San Diego for the second straight season on strength of a career-high 18 points from Silas Melson.
- BYU defeated Gonzaga in Spokane for the second straight season earlier this year.
- Gonzaga is 8-2 on the road this season, and also defeated BYU at the Marriott Center last year.
- GU currently sits tied with Saint Mary's at 14-3 for the top spot in the WCC standings, one game ahead of BYU heading into the finale.
- Gonzaga has the nation's third-longest active streak of games played without back-to-back losses: Villanova 98, Kansas 91, Gonzaga 75.
- Gonzaga has held 10 straight opponents under 70 points, and 12 of the last 13 under 70, including the 69 BYU scored in Spokane.
- Gonzaga has taken care of the ball in WCC play, averaging 10.3 TOs/game, compared to 13.2 in 11 non-conference games.
- Gonzaga leads the nation in three-point field goal percentage defense at .284 and ranks No. 3 the nation in defensive rebounding at 29.48.
- HBO is filming a special on Gonzaga Basketball chronicling the season, which will debuted Feb. 16 at 10 p.m. as a five-part weekly series.

ABOUT GONZAGA
- Gonzaga has had a higher field goal percentage than 25 of 29 opponents and only been outrebounded three times in those 29 games.
- Domantas Sabonis is averaging a double-double at 17.3 points and 11.8 rebounds/game (No. 7 in the NCAA) while shooting .605 from the floor, which ranks him first in the WCC in rebounding and second in field goal percentage.
- Sabonis posted his league-leading 18th double-double of the season on Thursday at San Diego with 17 points and 17 rebounds and has 12 in the past 15 games. He's missed a double-double by either one point or one rebound three other times this season.
- Kyle Wiltjer leads the league in scoring at 20.8 points per game (No. 17 in the NCAA), and has had 20-plus 17 times this season along with double figures in 26 of 29 games.
- Wiltjer and Sabonis have combined total five 20-point halves. Wiltjer has four (at WSU, UA, LMU, SCU) and Sabonis has one (vs. UT).
- Head coach Mark Few is the winningest active coach in NCAA Division I by percentage at .807 (459-110).

ABOUT BYU
- Head coach Dave Rose is in his 11th season leading the Cougar program with a career record of 279-96.
- Kyle Collinsworth is coming off his NCAA-record 10th-career triple double. He averages 15.2 pts., 8.1 rebs., and 7.5 assts. per game.
- Senior guard Chase Fischer leads the team in scoring at 18.1 points per game and has made a league-high 90 threes this season.
- Freshman guard Nick Emery averages 16.0 points per game, while Utah State transfer Kyle Davis averages 12.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. The Cougars have averaged 85.1 points per game in conference play.

PERKINS LEADING AT THE POINT
Redshirt freshman Josh Perkins has shown his growth over the last month. In the last eight games, he's had at least five assists on six occasions, and over the last five games, he's had a 2.67 assist-to-turnover ratio. He's scored in double figures in each of the last two games, including a 21-point outburst against Saint Mary's at home last Saturday. In 17 conference games, Perkins is leading the league in three-point shooting at .481 (25-for-52) and is fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.5.

MELSON FINDING HIS ROLE
Sophomore guard Silas Melson has been a force on both ends of the floor for Gonzaga, especially in the last five games, where's he's knocked down 19-of-32 (.594) from the floor, 9-of-16 (.563) from behind the three-point line and 10-of-12 (.833) from the free throw line. Melson is coming off a career-high 18 points in Thursday's win over San Diego, where he was 5-for-8 from the field and 6-for-7 from the free throw line.

ACADEMICS, TOO
Gonzaga was the only team in the league with three players named to the WCC All-Academic First Team announced by conference officials on Friday. Kyle Wiltjer (3.76, MBA), Kyle Dranginis (3.88, Masters in Organizational Leadership) and Domantas Sabonis (3.46, Sport Management) each earned their first league academic honor. It also marks the first time GU has had three on the first team in a season since the 1999-00 squad had four with Mike Nilson, Ryan Floyd, Matt Santangelo and Jimmy Tricco earn the award.

DEFENSE CARRYING THE LOAD
Since giving up 94 points in an overtime win at San Francisco-- the first 90-plus-point opponent for Gonzaga since a 96-91 OT loss at USF in 2011 -- GU opponents have averaged just 64.0 points per game over the last 14 games. That includes just two opponents reaching the 70 mark, while two other opponents were held to 48 (USF at home) and 52 (San Diego at home). Over the 14-game span, Gonzaga has held opponents to just 40.3 percent shooting overall and just 26.2 percent from behind the arc.

BOUNCEBACKS
With the win at San Diego following the loss to Saint Mary's, Gonzaga has followed each of its last 12 losses up with a victory, having not lost back-to-back games since Feb. 20-22, 2014, at BYU and at San Diego. What's even more impressive is in those 12 games following a loss, GU's margin of victory is +23.2 points, with only two of those 12 games being a single-digit scoring margin. Overall, the Zags have gone 75 games without having lost two straight, giving them the third-longest active streak in the nation behind Villanova's 98 and Kansas' 91.