#12/12 Gonzaga (24-5, 13-2 WCC) vs. #15/14 Saint Mary's (25-5, 14-1)
SATURDAY, FEB. 25 | 7 P.M. | McCARTHEY ATHLETIC CENTER | SPOKANE
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THE TIP OFF
- Gonzaga and Saint Mary's meet for the 112th time Saturday in the McCarthey Athleic Center at 7 p.m.
- With a win Saturday, the Zags would clinch a share of their 11th straight West Coast Conference regular season title. GU currently owns the nation's longest active streak of regular season conference titles at 10.
- The Bulldogs are one win from clinching their 16th consecutive 25-win season. Gonzaga is the only program to have reached 25 wins in each of the last 15 seasons. The Zags are currently tied with Kansas (2005-20) for the NCAA Div. 1 record with 15 straight 25-win seasons.
- Gonzaga is coming off a 97-72 victory over San Diego Thursday. Drew Timme led all scorers with 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Ben Gregg came off the bench and scored 18 points, while Julian Strawther had 17 points.
- Gonzaga leads the country averaging 87.8 points per game and shooting 52.6 percent from the field. The Zags are also first in effective field goal percentage (.586). Timme is third in the nation with 245 made field goals and is fifth with 618 points. His 21.3 points per game rank 13th in the nation. Anton Watson and Timme are first and second in the WCC in field goal percentage at 61.7 and 61.6 percent. Watson is second in two-point field goal percentage at 67.5 percent. Timme is fifth averaging 7.5 rebounds. Strawther's 6.3 rebounds per game are 10th. Nolan Hickman is second with a 2.28 assist-to-turnover ratio. Anton Watson is third averaging 1.79 steals.
 
SCOUTING THE GAELS
- Saint Mary's rides a four-game win streak into Saturday's matchup in Spokane. The Gaels clinched at least a share of the West Coast Conference regular season title with a, 83-52 home win over Pacific Thursday. Logan Johnson led SMC with 29 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the field. He dished out seven assists. Alex Ducas added 17 points and seven rebounds. Mitchell Saxen and Augustus Marciulionis chipped in 11 and 10 points for the Gaels.
- Thursday's victory was also number 25 for Saint Mary's.
- The Gaels are fourth in the country in scoring defense (58.7) and 11th in scoring margin (+13.3). Saint Mary's is sixth in rebound margin at +8.0. SMC tops the WCC in field goal percentage defense (40.3). Ducas is 26th in the country shooting 41.4 percent from three-point range, which tops the WCC.
- Four Gaels average double-digit scoring led by Aidan Mahaney's 14.8 points per game. He's been named the WCC Freshman of the Week 10 times this season. Saxen adds 12.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per outing. Johnson averages 14.3 points and has a team-best 111 assists.
 
SERIES NOTES
- This is the 112th all-time meeting between Gonzaga and Saint Mary's. The Bulldogs lead the series 78-33, winning 23 of the last 28 meetings.
- Gonzaga is 54-13 against SMC under Mark Few.
- In the first matchup this season in Moraga, Aidan Mahaney scored 18 points leading No. 18 Saint Mary's to a 78-70 overtime win over No. 12 Gonzaga. Drew Timme scored 23 points to lead Gonzaga, while Malachi Smith and Julian Strawther added 13 and 10.
- Gonzaga is 35-10 all-time at home against SMC. GU is 17-4 in the meetings in the McCarthey Athletic Center.
- In last season's meeting in Spokane, Drew Timme scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds to help No. 2 Gonzaga beat No. 22 Saint Mary's 75-58 on Feb. 12, 2022.
- The Bulldogs are 26-20 all-time at Saint Mary's.
- The Zags are 17-3 against SMC in the WCC Tournament, winning seven of the last eight meetings in the event. The teams have met in the tournament 13 of the past 15 years.
- The Bulldogs won the first all-time meeting between the programs, 94-77, in Spokane in 1955.
 
THE BEST IN THE WEST
- Gonzaga and Saint Mary's have finished in the top two of the West Coast Conference standings in 11 of the past 14 seasons, and 14 of the last 18 seasons. (SMC: second last two seasons, fourth in 2013-14 and third in 2006-07)
- The last 22 regular season titles have been won or shared by Gonzaga or Saint Mary's. The Zags have won or shared 20, while SMC has won or shared two.
- The last 13 WCC Tournament titles have been won by either Gonzaga or SMC. GU has 10 of those 13 titles.
- Gonzaga has won eight of the 10 meetings when both teams have been ranked.
 
MORE IMPRESSIVE WCC STATS
- Since the 2016-17 season, the Zags have won 106 out of their last 112 West Coast Conference regular season games. Including the WCC Tournament, GU is 119-7 over that span.
- The Bulldogs have won 62 of their last 66 games against conference competition dating back to the 2019-20 season.
 
UP NEXT
- Gonzaga closes the regular season in a non-conference matchup against Chicago State Wednesday at 6 p.m.
- It will be the third meeting between the programs. The Bulldogs won at Chicago State in 1997, 97-51, and in Spokane over the Cougars in 1998, 84-38.
- It will be Senior Night in the McCarthey Athletic Center and the Zags will honor Rasir Bolton, Malachi Smith, Drew Timme and Anton Watson.
 
MILESTONE WATCH
- Drew Timme ranks second in program history with 2,139 points and eighth with 835 rebounds. He is 58 points from first. Timme needs to average 14.5 points during the next four games to surpass Frank Burgess for the top spot. Timme is 25 rebounds from fifth in GU history. Timme is at 400 assists in his career.
- Malachi Smith is three made free-throws from 300 in his career.
- Anton Watson is two steals from 150 in his career. He is four steals from entering GU's career Top-10 list.
- Rasir Bolton is one rebound from 400 in his career.
 
STRIVING FOR ELEVEN
- With a win Saturday, Gonzaga would clinch a share of the West Coast Conference regular season title.
- The Zags have either shared or owned the WCC regular season title outright in each of the last 10 seasons.
- Gonzaga has 25 WCC regular season titles, Coach Few has led GU to 21 of them.
- Gonzaga currently owns the nationally-best active streak of regular season titles, owned or shared at 10.
- Since 1997-98, the Bulldogs have either won or shared 23 of the 25 regular season titles, sharing only three (2015-16 with Saint Mary's, 2010-11 with Saint Mary's, 2001-02 with Pepperdine). SMC won the 2011-12 title and Pepperdine took the 1999-2000 title, both by one game over Gonzaga.
- The Zags shared the title with Santa Clara in 1995-96, and won it outright in 1993-94.
 
TRIPLE BYE IN VEGAS
- Gonzaga has clinched one of the top two seeds in the 2023 West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas.
- The top two seeds earn triple byes in the event to the semifinals on March 6.
- GU has been the top seed in the WCC Tournament in 11 of the 14 years that the event has been in Las Vegas since 2009. The other three years, GU has been the two-seed.
 
STRIKE WHILE THE STRAWTHER IS HOT
- Over the last four games, Julian Strawther has scored 26 points versus BYU, 28 points at Loyola Marymount, 28 points at Pepperdine and 17 against San Diego.
- That's a total of 99 points and a 24.75 point average over the last four contests.
- He is shooting 58.9 percent from the field (33-of-56) over that span, including 57.1 percent from three (16-of-28). The junior has also made 17 of his 20 free-throws.
- Strawther has added 17 rebounds and three blocks during the last four games.
- The Zags are 16-0 this season when Strawther scores 14 or more points.
 
ZAGS CLOSE TO 25 WINS ... AGAIN
- Gonzaga has won at least 25 games in each of the last 15 consecutive seasons.
- The Zags have reached the 25-win plateau in 18 of the last 19 seasons, and 22 of the last 24.
- Gonzaga is currently tied with Kansas (2005-20) for the NCAA Div. 1 record with 15 straight 25-win seasons.