#2/2 Gonzaga (25-1, 11-0 WCC) at Pepperdine (14-12, 7-5 WCC)
FEB. 15 | 7 P.M. | FIRESTONE FIELDHOUSE | MALIBU, CALIF.
TELEVISION: ESPN
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
 
THE TIP OFF:
- Gonzaga and Pepperdine meet for the 90th time on Saturday in Malibu, at 7 p.m. The Zags have a 58-31 advantage in the series.
- The Bulldogs are 30-12 in the meetings in Spokane, including a 22-game winning streak.
- GU has won 38 straight versus the Waves, with the last Pepperdine victory coming in 2002, 88-79, in Malibu.
- The Zags are 42-2 against the Waves under Mark Few.
- The Bulldogs are coming off of a 90-60 win at Saint Mary's Saturday. Drew Timme led GU with a career-high 20 points. The Zags shot 67.9 percent from the field.
- GU hasn't trailed in the last 81 minutes and 55 seconds, since the 1:55 mark of the second half at USF, 77-76.
- Gonzaga's 38 straight regular season conference wins is currently the longest streak of its kind in the nation.
- The Zags are the lone team in the nation to have seven players averaging double-digit scoring per game, no other team has six players averaging double-digit scoring.
- The Bulldogs have the country's third-longest win streak currently at 17 consecutive victories.
- The Zags' 17 consecutive true road wins is currently the longest active streak in the country. Gonzaga has won 38 straight conference road contests.
- GU's 36 straight wins at home is the longest active streak in the nation, and third longest in program history.
- Gonzaga has clinched its 13th straight 25-win season.
- The Bulldogs are first in the nation in scoring offense (88.5), scoring margin (21.7), second in field goal percentage (51.7), third in total assists (447).
 
SERIES NOTES:
- This is the 90th all-time meeting between Gonzaga and Pepperdine.
- The Zags have a 58-31 advantage in the series.
- Gonzaga has won 16 in-a-row inside the Firestone Fieldhouse and is 22-17 all-time in the meetings in Malibu.
- GU has won 38 straight versus the Waves, with the last Pepperdine victory in the series coming on Jan. 18, 2002, 88-79, in Malibu.
- The Bulldogs are 42-2 against the Waves under Mark Few.
- In the latest matchup, GU was tested at home against the Waves, but pulled away with the 75-70 win on Jan. 4.
- Gonzaga won the only regular season meeting in 2018-19, 92-64, in Spokane on Feb. 21. Rui Hachimura scored 23 points, leading four Zags in double figures.
- In the last meeting in Malibu, Killian Tillie had 22 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 19 Gonzaga past Pepperdine 89-59, on Jan. 4, 2018. Corey Kispert added nine points and eight rebounds.
- GU has 30-12 advantage in the meetings in Spokane.
- The Bulldogs have won 22 in-a-row against Pepperdine in Spokane. The last time the Waves won at Gonzaga was on Feb. 19, 1998, 65-64.
- Gonzaga won the first-ever meeting, 93-70, in the Knights
of Columbus Tournament in Portland, on Dec. 11, 1964.
 
SCOUTING THE WAVES:
- Pepperdine is coming off of a thrilling 72-69 win over San Diego in Malibu Thursday. After trailing for 36 minutes, the Waves' Colbey Ross hit the game-winning three-pointer as time expired. USD led by 10 at halftime. Ross had a team-high 21 points, eight assists and three steals. Sedrick Altman added 14 points and nine rebounds, while Kameron Edwards had 14 points and eight boards.
- Ross recorded his 600th career assist recently, becoming the first Pepperdine basketball player to reach that milestone.
- Ross also raised his career scoring total to 1,621 points and rose to seventh place on the Waves' all-time list.
- Ross averages a team-high 19.8 points per game, which ranks second in the West Coast Conference. He is fourth in the country averaging 7.35 assists per game. His 191 assists top the nation, while his 970:15 minutes played is second.
- Kessler Edwards ranks third in the WCC averaging 7.4 rebounds per game. Kameron Edwards is fifth at 7.0.
 
A ZAG WIN WOULD ...
- Extend the nation's third-longest active win streak to 18.
- Improve the nation's current longest road win streak to 18.
- Extend the Bulldogs' conference regular season win streak to 39 victories.
- Improve the national best conference road win streak to 39.
- Be GU's 24th consecutive road win over an unranked team.
- Be the 20th straight win for GU in the month of February.
 
ZAGS HIT 25 WINS ... AGAIN:
- Gonzaga has won at least 25 games in each of the last 13 consecutive seasons.
- The Zags have reached the 25-win plateau in 16 of the last 17 seasons, and 20 of the last 22.
- Only Kansas (13), Duke (11) and GU have reached 25 wins in each of the last 11 seasons.
 
BALANCING ACT:
- Gonzaga is the only program in the nation with seven players averaging double-digit scoring. No other teams in the country even have six players averaging double-digit scoring.
- No Division I team in the last 20 years has finished a season with seven players averaging 10.0+ point per game.
- Seven different Zags have already led the team in scoring in a game this season.
- Eight Bulldogs have had multiple double-digit scoring games, with seven GU players reaching 20 points.
- Eight Gonzaga players averaging at least three rebounds per outing, and four dishout at least two assists per game.
- The Zags have had seven different players lead a game in assists so far this season, and five have led in rebounds.
- GU has had at least four double-digit scorers in all but two games this season. (Four in 8 games, Five in 12 games, Six in 3 games and Seven in 1 game)
 
MEMORABLE MATCHUP IN MORAGA:
- Gonzaga's 90-60 win at Saint Mary's was the biggest home loss for the Gaels in the last 19 years.
- The loss was the most lopsided at home in Bennett's 19 seasons, topping a 28-point defeat to Gonzaga in 2014.
- The last time the Gaels lost by more points here came in a 102-48 defeat to the Bulldogs during a 2-27 season in 2001.
- The Zags have won the last four regular season meetings versus SMC by an average of 26.25 points.
 
LIFE ON THE ROAD:
- The Zags' 17-straight true road wins is currently the longest streak in the nation, and according to Elias Sports Bureau, over the last 20 seasons, the only other team to win 17-plus straight road games is Memphis (also 17 straight from Jan. 2007 to March 2008). The longest streak all-time is Kansas with 35 straight back in the 1920s.
- Since the 2005-06 season, Gonzaga is 215-65 in road or neutral games. The Zags' 76.3-win percentage in road or neutral games tops the nation over that span.
- Also since the 2007-08 season, the Zags are 106-25 in true road games. GU's 80.2-win pct. in true road games is best in the nation over that span.
- The Bulldogs have won 38 straight WCC games on the road, the longest active streak in the country. GU's last loss to a conference opponent on the road was at Saint Mary's, 70-67, on Jan. 21, 2016.
- The last time Gonzaga lost to a WCC opponent that was not BYU or Saint Mary's was on Feb. 22, 2014, at San Diego.
- The Zags have won 50 of their last 51 road games in conference play. Since 2014-15, GU is 48-1 in WCC road games.
- If you include the WCC Tournament, GU has won 64 of their last 67 road or neutral league contests.
 
JUST HOW THEY DREW IT UP:
- Timme had a breakout week averaging 18.5 points and nine rebounds during the Zags' 16th and 17th straight wins.
- The freshman totaled 37 points during last week on 15-of-17 (88.2 percent) shooting from the field.
- In Gonzaga's win over Loyola Marymount, he scored 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds, made three steals, had two assists and blocked a shot.
- At Saint Mary's, the Richardson, Texas, native scored a career-high 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field, and made all six free-throw attempts. He had his third double-double of the season, pulling down 10 boards.
- Timme became the seventh Bulldog to score 20 points in a game this season. He also became the seventh GU player to average double-digit scoring, no other team in the country has six players averaging double-digits.
- With Killian Tillie out with an injury, Timme rose to the occasion in the Zags' win at San Francisco.
- He scored a career-high 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. Timme drew six fouls and was 7-of-8 from the line.
- He blocked three shots and dished out three assists.
 
FILL IT UP AT THE LINE:
- Filip Petrusev's 184 free-throw attempts ranks as the fourth-most taken in the country, while his 119 makes from the line ranks 18th.
- The sophomore is fourth in the nation drawing 7.6 fouls per 40 minutes. He tops the West Coast Conference at 8.3 fouls drawn per league outing.
- Petrusev tops the conference in free-throw rate (65.0).
 
GOING FOR EIGHT STRAIGHT:
- Gonzaga needs two wins to clinch at least a share of the 2019-20 regular season title, and three victories to claim the crown outright.
- The Zags have either shared or owned the West Coast Conference regular season title outright in each of the last seven seasons.
- In home games last season, GU trailed for only 16 minutes and 58 seconds, roughly 2.5 percent of the total 680 minutes.
- Gonzaga trailed in the second half only twice during West Coast Conference play so far last season.
 
STAYING IN FRONT:
- In the 11 conference games, Gonzaga has trailed for only 52 minutes and 45 seconds, roughly 12 percent of the time. Without the game at San Francisco included, which the Zags trailed for 26:42, GU trailed for 26:03 in WCC play.
- In the five conference games at home, the Bulldogs have trailed for 10 minutes and 48 seconds (5.5 percent).
- In home games this season, Gonzaga has trailed for 30 minutes and 40 seconds (5.5 percent).
- In total over the last three seasons and this season in home conference games, the Bulldogs have trailed for only 66 of the 1,240 minutes, roughly 5.3 percent of the time. Including all 2,600 minutes of conference play over the last three seasons and this season, GU has trailed for 185 minutes and one second, roughly 7.1 percent of the time.
- After Gonzaga trailed in the second half only twice during West Coast Conference play last season, the Zags have trailed only three times during the second half this season; with the latest by one 77-76 at USF with 1:55 left.