#2/1 Gonzaga (20-2, 9-0 WCC) vs. #22/22 Saint Mary's (20-5, 8-2 WCC)
SATURDAY, FEB. 12 | 7 P.M. | McCARTHEY ATHLETIC CENTER | SPOKANE
TELEVISION: ESPN2
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THE TIP OFF
- No. 2/1 Gonzaga welcomes No. 22/22 Saint Mary's in a West Coast Conference contest Saturday at 7 p.m. It's the 107th meeting between the programs, and the Zags own the all-time series 75-31. It's the seventh time the programs have met as ranked teams, with GU winning all six of those previous matchups.
- GU has won six straight versus the Gaels. SMC's last win in the series came in 2018, 60-47, in Las Vegas.
- The Zags have won 30 straight conference games, which is the longest active streak of its kind in the nation. Gonzaga's last league loss was a 91-78 setback at BYU on Feb. 22, 2020. The Bulldogs have won 27 consecutive WCC games by double-digits by an average margin of 25.44 points.
- GU is clinched its 25th straight 20-win season, which is the second longest active streak in the nation.
- The Bulldogs ride a national-best, and program-best, 65-game home win streak, with the last loss in 2018.
- Gonzaga is coming off an 89-51 win over Pacific Thursday. Rasir Bolton scored a season-high 20 points.
- The Zags are one of six unbeaten teams in conference play. GU is on a 13-game win streak, the second-longest active streak in the nation. It's the sixth straight season Gonzaga has had a 10-game or more win streak.
- The Bulldogs are 9-0 in WCC play for the third straight season, they have opened 13-0 the past three seasons.
- GU has won 10 straight true road games, which is the longest active streak in the country.
- The Zags are first in KenPom's rankings, and the only team in the country with their offensive and defensive efficiencies in the Top-10 (second offensive efficiency and eighth efficient defense).
- GU is first in the nation in scoring offense (90.8), field goal percentage (53.5), scoring margin (26.1), two-point percentage (62.5) and in defensive rebounds (32.7), second in assists per game (19.2) and rebounds per game (42.6), third in field goal percentage defense (37.0), fourth in win percentage (90.9), fifth in rebound margin (9.5) and assist-turnover ratio (1.61), and eighth in blocks per game (5.9) and in total assists (423).
- Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme are fifth and 11th in the nation shooting 64.5 percent and 60.2 percent from the field. Holmgren is sixth with 75 blocks and seventh in the country averaging 3.41 blocks per game.
- The Zags appear in the Associated Press poll for the 109th consecutive ranking, which is the longest current streak in the nation. GU is the only program to appear in every AP poll since 2017, with a No. 5 average ranking.
- The Bulldogs have won 72 of their last 76 games, and since the start of the 2019-20 season, GU has won a national-best 82 out of their last 87 games. Gonzaga is also 51-3 since the start of 2020-21.
 
SERIES NOTES
- This is the 107th all-time meeting between Gonzaga and Saint Mary's. GU leads the series 75-31, winning 21 of the last 25 meetings, and is 49-11 against SMC under Mark Few.
- It will be the seventh-ever meeting when both teams are ranked inside the Associated Press Top 25.
- Gonzaga won the last matchup 78-55 in the 2021 WCC Tournament semifinals. Five Zags finished in double-digit scoring led by Drew Timme's 18 points and eight rebounds.
- The Bulldogs won last season's meeting in Spokane, 87-65, on Feb. 18, 2021. Timme had 12 points.
- Gonzaga is 33-11 all-time at home against SMC. GU is 16-4 in the meetings in the McCarthey Athletic Center.
- The Bulldogs are 26-18 all-time at Saint Mary's.
- The Zags won the first all-time meeting between the programs, 86-84, in Moraga on Dec. 23, 1971.
- The last 13 WCC Tournament titles have been won by either Gonzaga or SMC. GU has 10 of those 13 titles.
- The Zags are 15-4 against SMC in the WCC Tournament, winning six of the last seven meetings in the event. The teams have met in the tournament 12 of the past 14 years.
 
SCOUTING THE GAELS
- Saint Mary's picked up an 86-57 home win over San Diego Thursday. Logan Johnson scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Tommy Kuhse added 13 points off the bench, and Alex Ducas had 12. Matthias Tass led with three assists.
- After dropping their first conference game of the season at BYU, the Gaels won seven straight and returned to the Top 25 this week at No. 22. SMC fell at Santa Clara Tuesday.
- Four Gaels average double-digit scoring led by Tass at 12.8 points per game. He's also grabbing 6.2 rebounds per outing. Ducas adds 11 points per game, while Johnson and Kuhse average 10.8 and 10.2. Kuhse dishes out a team-high 3.48 assists per game, and Johnson has 2.2 steals per game.
- Saint Mary's was picked third in the WCC Preseason Poll.
 
ON THIS DAY IN ZAG HISTORY
- Gonzaga is 11-8 on Feb. 12 since joining Div. 1 in 1958-59.
- In their last game on this date, the Zags beat Loyola Marymount, 80-51, in 2015.
- GU won at Saint Mary's on this date in 2009, 72-70.
- The Bulldogs have won three straight games on Feb. 12.
 
MILESTONE WATCH
- Chet Holmgren's 75 blocks rank second in program history for most in a season. Brandon Clarke set the record in 2018-19 with 117. Clarke had 67 blocks after 22 games that season, averaging 3.05.
- Holmgren is 10 blocks from 10th for most in a GU career.
- Rasir Bolton is nine steals from 100 in his career.
- Anton Watson is 11 steals from 100 in his career.
 
A ZAG WIN WOULD ...
- Extend the nation's longest conference winning streak to 31 games, dating back to a loss at BYU on Feb. 22, 2019.
- Be the 14th straight GU win in February.
- Improve Mark Few's record in February to 158-23.
- Extend the nation's longest home win streak to 66 games, also continuing the program record.
- Be the fourth straight at home over a ranked foe.
- Be the 36th straight home win over a WCC opponent.
- Improve Gonzaga's record to 26-9 against ranked opponents since March 2016.
- Match the longest home win streak versus West Coast Conference foes is the second-longest in program history at 36.
 
WHAT'S UP NEXT
- The 94th all-time meeting between GU and Pepperdine.
- The Zags have a 62-31 advantage in the series.
- GU has won 42 straight versus the Waves, with the last Pepperdine victory in the series coming on Jan. 18, 2002, 88-79, in Malibu.
- The Bulldogs are 46-2 against the Waves under Mark Few.
- In the meeting earlier this season in Spokane on Jan. 8, Anton Watson scored 19 points, Drew Timme and Chet Holmgren scored 18 each, and GU routed Pepperdine 117-83.
- In last season's meeting in Malibu on Jan. 30, 2021, the Bulldogs had six players score in double figures in a 97-75 rout of Pepperdine. Drew Timme led the way with 19 points. Andrew Nembhard came off the bench and finished with 17 points and eight assists.
- Gonzaga has won 18 in-a-row inside the Firestone Fieldhouse and is 24-17 all-time in the meetings in Malibu.
- GU has 32-12 advantage in the meetings in Spokane.
- The Bulldogs have won 24 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.
 
25/20 VISION:
- GU clinched its 25th straight 20-win season.
- The Zags' 25-straight 20-win seasons rank second behind for the longest active run in the country. (Kansas 30)
- Prior to the previous 24 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 14 consecutive seasons.
 
ALL ZAGS NO BRAKES
- Gonzaga's average possession length of 14.2 tops the nation. St. John's is second at 14.7.
- The Bulldogs are second in the country in adjusted tempo at 73.8. Charleston is first at 74.1.
- GU ranks second in the country in 34.1 percent of the Bulldogs' field goal attempts come in transition.
 
DOMINANT START
- The Zags have won their first nine West Coast Conference games by an average margin of 30.6 points.
- The 2018-19 GU team set a WCC record beating league opponents by a margin of 27 points. The 2016-17 team has the second-largest margin at 26.2, and last season's team was third at 24.1.
- Gonzaga is averaging 98.2 points per conference game at 55.3 percent shooting from the field.
- The Bulldogs have won their last five games by 30 or more and by an average of 33.4 points.
- Six Zags are averaging double-digit scoring in WCC play led by Drew Timme's 18.4 points per league contest.
- Chet Holmgren is averaging 17 points on 68.8 percent shooting from the field, including 20-of-34 from behind-the-arc (58 percent). He's adding 10.1 rebounds and 3.3 blocks.