#10/11 Gonzaga (10-3) vs. Eastern Oregon (7-4)
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 28 | 2 P.M. | McCARTHEY ATHLETIC CENTER | SPOKANE
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THE TIP OFF
- Gonzaga welcomes Eastern Oregon to the McCarthey Athletic Center for a 2 p.m. matinee Wednesday.
- The Zags own the country's longest home win streak with 72 consecutive victories inside the McCarthey Athletic Center. Texas Tech is the next closest with 27 straight home wins.
- Gonzaga's 72 straight home wins are the most in the modern era of Div. 1 (Since 1985). Arizona had 71 consecutive victories from 1987-1992. The Bulldogs' last loss at home was during the 2017-18 season, a 74-71 setback to Saint Mary's on Jan. 18, 2018.
- Gonzaga is coming off an 85-75 win over Montana on Dec. 20 in Spokane. Drew Timme scored a season-high 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Julian Strawther also had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Ben Gregg and Malachi Smith combined for 20 of Gonzaga's 22 bench points.
- Drew Timme is at 100 wins in his collegiate career. He currently boasts a 100-10 career record.
- Since 2018-19, Gonzaga boasts a 7-1 record in regular season games against teams ranked in the Top 5 in either the AP or Coaches polls. The lone loss was to Duke by three points last season in Las Vegas.
- Drew Timme ranks third in the nation with 114 made field goals and fifth with 287 points. His 22.1 points per game ranks seventh in the nation and tops the West Coast Conference. He also leads the conference shooting 63.7 percent from the field. He is fifth averaging 8.3 rebounds and sixth with 1.08 blocks per outing. Nolan Hickman is third in the league in assists per game (3.90). Julian Strawther's 7.9 rebounds per game are sixth.
 
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
- Eastern Oregon has won seven of its first 11 games to start the season, including five of its last six.
- The Mountaineers are off to a 4-1 start to Cascade Collegiate Conference play with their lone loss to the third-ranked team in NAIA, The College of Idaho.
- EOU's last game was a 101-78 home win over Multnomah on Dec. 17. Phillip Malatare scored a team-high 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field. He chipped in a team-high eight rebounds. Four other Mountaineers scored in double-digits, including Preston Chandler who had 16 points.
- Malatare averages a team-best 17.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Emmit Taylor III adds 13.1 points.
- Taylor III is a grad-transfer from Idaho State, while Malatare was last year's Cascade Collegiate Conference Newcomer of the Year and EOU's only All-CCC selection Phillip Malatare.
- Eastern Oregon was selected fourth in the CCC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
 
SERIES INFO
- The programs have four regular season meetings since GU went Div. 1 in 1958-59; Gonzaga has won all four matchups and all were in Spokane.
- The teams met in an exhibition last season to open the season. The Zags rolled to a 115-62 victory. GU never trailed and led by as many as 55 points late in the second half. Julian Strawther scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. He was 3-for-6 from behind-the-arc. Kaden Perry had 12 points, Drew Timme chipped in 10 points and three blocks, and Hunter Sallis scored 11 points.
 
UP NEXT
- Gonzaga opens West Coast Conference play Saturday against Pepperdine in Spokane at 2 p.m.
- GU has won 25 straight West Coast Conference openers, dating back to a 72-61 loss at Santa Clara in 1996. The Zags have won all 23 West Coast Conference openers under Mark Few.
- Gonzaga opened West Coast Conference play last season with a 117-83 rout win over Pepperdine in Spokane. Anton Watson and Drew Timme scored 19 and 18, while Hunter Sallis had 13.
- It will be the 95th all-time meeting between Gonzaga and Pepperdine. The Zags have a 63-31 advantage in the series, and GU has won 43 straight versus the Waves, with the last Pepperdine victory in the series coming on Jan. 18, 2002, 88-79, in Malibu.
- Gonzaga's 43 straight wins over Pepperdine ranks as the third-longest streak versus an opponent in Div. 1 history.
- The Bulldogs are 46-2 against the Waves under Few.
- GU has 31-12 advantage in the meetings in Spokane, including 23 wins in-a-row.
 
MILESTONE WATCH
- Drew Timme ranks seventh in program history with 1,808 points and ninth with 725 rebounds. He is two points from sixth and 16 from fifth. Timme is 32 rebounds from eighth in program history.
- Malachi Smith is four rebounds from 600 in his career.
 
A ZAG WIN WOULD ...
- Extend the nation's longest home win streak, and longest in program history, to 73 games. That mark would
extend the modern NCAA Div. 1 record (since 1985).
- Extend the second-longest streak in the AP Poll era for
ranked against unranked opponents to 78 games.
- Be the 88th straight victory over an unranked team.
- Be the 67th straight victory over an unranked team at
home, 51st over a non-conference opponent at home
and 52nd over an unranked non-conference foe at home.
 
 
TIED FOR HISTORIC MARK
- Gonzaga's 72 straight home wins are the most in the modern era of Div. 1 (Since 1985).
- Arizona had 71 straight victories from 1987-1992.
- The Zags' last loss at home was during the 2017-18 season, a 74-71 setback to Saint Mary's on Jan. 18, 2018.
- GU's 72 consecutive victories at home are tied for ninth all-time in NCAA Div. 1 history.
 
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
- Gonzaga's 72 straight home wins are the longest streak in program history, breaking the previous record of 50 from 2003-07.
- During the Zags' 72-game home win streak, GU has won 35 times by 30-plus points, 46 times by 20 or more points, and 37 of the wins were versus conference opponents.
- The 37 straight wins over WCC foes is a program best.
- Since the McCarthey Athletic Center opened in 2004, Gonzaga boasts a 257-15 record at home.
- The Zags' 94.5 winning percentage at home since 2004-05 ranks second in the nation.
- GU has sold out every game since the 6,000-seat McCarthey Athletic Center opened, a streak of 272 games.
 
JUST HOW THEY DREW IT UP
- Drew Timme has put up historic numbers over his last five games. He is averaging 27.6 points, while shooting 66.7 percent from the field, 10.2 rebounds, and 4.0 assists over the last five outings.
- Per OptaStats, he's the only Division I player in the last 25 years to average 25/10/4 on 60 percent shooting over any five-game span.
- His last five scoring outputs are 32, 29, 26, 22 and 29.
 
DISHING IT OUT
- Nolan Hickman has 41 assists to 11 turnovers over the past nine games.
- Hickman has no turnovers in his last 98 minutes of action, dating back to the 7:26 mark of the second half of the matchup against Washington.
- Hickman dished out 11 assists with no turnovers in the last three games.
- After back-to-back five assists to one turnover games against Purdue and Xavier, he had eight assists versus Baylor.
- In the Phil Knight Legacy tournament, Hickman had 14 assists to two turnovers.