#12/14 Gonzaga (19-4, 8-1 WCC) at #18/18 Saint Mary's (20-4, 9-0 WCC)
SATURDAY, FEB. 4 | 7:30 P.M. | UCU PAVILION | MORAGA, CA
TELEVISION: ESPN
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THE TIP OFF
- Gonzaga and Saint Mary's meet for the 110th time Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Moraga. It will be the 10th matchup between the West Coast Conference foes when both teams are ranked.
- The Bulldogs are one win from their 26th straight 20-win season. The Zags' 25-straight 20-win seasons ranks second for the longest active run in the country. (Kansas 32)
- In the Zags' last game, Drew Timme scored 15 points and surpassed 2,000 for his career, leading No. 12 Gonzaga past Santa Clara 88-70 in Spokane Thursday. Rasir Bolton scored 16 points and Julian Strawther added 12 for the Bulldogs, who shot 59.3 percent from the field, including 63 percent in the second half.
- Timme needs eight points to pass Jim McPhee for second on Gonzaga's career scoring list.
- Gonzaga leads the country shooting 52.1 percent from the field and averaging 86.4 points per game. The Zags are also first in effective field goal percentage (.584). Timme is third in the nation with 195 made field goals and is sixth with 486 points. His 21.1 points per game rank 12th in the nation. He leads the conference shooting 60.4 percent from the field, and is sixth averaging 7.7 rebounds. Strawther's 6.9 rebounds per game are 10th. Nolan Hickman tops the WCC with a 2.05 assist-to-turnover ratio. Anton Watson is fourth averaging 1.78 steals.
- GU ranks third in KenPom's offensive efficiency, finishing in the top three in each of the past four seasons.
 
SCOUTING THE GAELS
- Saint Mary's rides the second-longest win streak in the nation into Saturday's game. The Gaels won their 12th straight Thursday at home over San Francisco, 68-59. Alex Ducas led all scorers with 18, while Aidan Mahaney added 17 points. Mitchell Saxen had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Logan Johnson chipped in 12 points and three assists. The Gaels were limited to 32 percent shooting from the field, but made 32-of-37 from the free-throw line.
- The win was also number 500 for SMC Head Coach Randy Bennett. His 500 wins are the 26th-most among active coaches, but is the seventh-most among all active coaches at their current institution. Only 25 coaches all-time have reached 500 wins at one school. He took over a program that was 2-27, and in 22 years, has won 500 games.
- Thursday's victory was also number 20 for Saint Mary's.
- The Gaels are fourth in the country in scoring defense (57.2) and ninth in scoring margin (+14.1). Saint Mary's is eighth in rebound margin at +8.3. SMC tops the WCC in field goal percentage defense (39.6). Ducas is 15th in the country shooting 44.4 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 eight times this season. Saxen adds 12.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per outing.
 
SERIES NOTES
- This is the 110th all-time meeting between Gonzaga and Saint Mary's. The Bulldogs lead the series 77-32, winning 23 of the last 28 meetings.
- Gonzaga is 51-12 against SMC under Mark Few.
- In the latest matchup between the programs, Gonzaga picked apart one of the nation's toughest defenses to win another West Coast Conference tournament title in Las Vegas, 82-69, on March 8. Rasir Bolton had 18 points and top-ranked GU outlasted No. 17 Saint Mary's to win its eighth WCC tournament title in nine years.
- The Bulldogs are 26-19 all-time at Saint Mary's.
- Saint Mary's won last season's meeting in Moraga, 67-57, on Feb. 26. Rasir Bolton scored 16 points. The Gaels were No. 23 and GU was No. 1. It snapped a seven-game Bulldog win streak, including five in-a-row in Moraga.
- Gonzaga is 34-11 all-time at home against SMC. GU is 17-4 in the meetings in the McCarthey Athletic Center.
- The Zags are 16-4 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, 86-84, in Moraga on Dec. 23, 1971.
 
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 nine meetings when both teams have been ranked.
 
UP NEXT
- Gonzaga hosts San Francisco Thursday at 6 p.m.
- It will be the 92nd all-time meeting between Gonzaga and San Francisco. GU has a 69-22 advantage in the series.
- GU is 48-4 against San Francisco under Mark Few.
- The Zags have won 25 straight versus the Dons. USF's last win in the series came on Feb 18, 2012, 66-65, at USF.
- In the first meeting this season at San Francisco, Rasir Bolton scored on a follow shot with seven seconds left to give No. 9 Gonzaga its first lead since the opening minutes and the Bulldogs beat USF 77-75. Bolton scored 11 of his 21 points in the final 5:15 to lead GU back. Julian Strawther added 16 points and Drew Timme had 11.
- Gonzaga has won 33 in-a-row in Spokane in the series, including all 18 in the McCarthey Athletic Center.
- The Bulldogs are 38-2 against USF in Spokane all-time. The Dons last won in Spokane on Feb. 10, 1989, 67-64.
- In last season's game at Gonzaga, Drew Timme scored 23 points and the Zags rolled to a 78-62 victory.
- GU is 25-18 all-time at San Francisco. The Bulldogs have won the last 10 matchups at USF.
- San Francisco edged GU, 64-62, in the first-ever meeting at USF on Jan. 28, 1961.
 
MILESTONE WATCH
- Drew Timme ranks third in program history with 2,007 points and eighth with 793 rebounds. He is eight points from second. Timme needs to average 18.9 points during the next 10 games to surpass Frank Burgess for the top spot. Timme is 26 rebounds from sixth in GU history.
- Malachi Smith is six made free-throws from 300 in his career and is at 150 steals in his career.
- Rasir Bolton is four assists from 350 in his career.
- Anton Watson is 13 steals from 150 in his career.
 
ONE FROM TWENTY
- GU is one win from its 26th straight 20-win season.
- The Zags' 25-straight 20-win seasons rank second for the longest active run in the country. (Kansas 32)
- Prior to the previous 25 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 15 consecutive seasons.
 
LIFE ON THE ROAD
- Since the 2007-08 season, the Zags are 127-28 in true road games. GU's 81.9-win pct. in true road games is best in the nation over that span.
- Since the 2005-06 season, Gonzaga is 252-73 in road or neutral games. The Zags' 77.6-win percentage in road or neutral games tops the nation over that span.
 
NIGHT OF MILESTONES IN MCCARTHEY
- In Gonzaga's 88-70 win over Santa Clara, two Zags reached historic career scoring marks.
- Drew Timme became the Bulldogs' third 2,000-point scorer in program history. He needed eight points entering the game and finished with 15.
- Malachi Smith needed seven points to reach 1,500 points in his career, and finished with eight. As a freshman he scored 190 points at Wright State, before totaling 1,115 points in two seasons at Chattanooga. He currently has 196 points this season at Gonzaga.