#23/22 Gonzaga (22-6, 12-2 WCC) at San Francisco (22-7, 11-3)
THURSDAY, FEB. 29 | 8 P.M. | CHASE CENTER | SAN FRANCISCO
TELEVISION: ESPN2
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THE TIP OFF
- Gonzaga travels to San Francisco Thursday at 8 p.m. for a matchup with the Dons inside the Chase Center. It's the 95th meeting between the Zags and Dons. GU leads the series 72-22 and has won 28 straight over USF.
- Gonzaga is 26-18 all-time at San Francisco. The Bulldogs have won the last 11 matchups at USF.
- The Bulldogs are coming off their sixth straight victory a 94-81 win over Santa Clara in Spokane Saturday. Graham Ike had a season-high 26 points and led five double-digit scorers for GU. Nolan Hickman scored 20 points and dished out five assists. Ryan Nembhard finished with 17 points, while adding six rebounds and six assists.
- After receiving votes for six weeks, Gonzaga returned to both polls at No. 23 (AP) and No. 22 (Coaches).
- The Zags are 17-0 this season when scoring 80 points and 16-0 when shooting 50 percent from the field. GU is 19-0 this season when shooting 30 percent from behind-the-perimeter and 18-1 when making six or more threes.
- Gonzaga leads the West Coast Conference in field goal percentage (51.6, 2nd in NCAA Div. 1), scoring margin (17.0, 4th in NCAA Div. 1), scoring (86.1, 5th NCAA Div. 1), rebounds (40.18) and assists per game (16.4).
- GU clinched its 27th straight 20-win season, which is the second longest active run in the nation. (Kansas 33)
- Head Coach Mark Few reached the 700 win plateau in his head coaching career at Pepperdine. Few ranks second in NCAA Div. 1 history behind Kentucky's Adolph Rupp (700-136) as the fastest to 700 wins.
- Few currently boasts the best winning percentage among active head coaches at 83.5 percent, which also is the best in NCAA Div. 1 all-time with a minimum of 10 seasons.
 
ABOUT THE DONS
- San Francisco has won seven of its last eight since the loss at Gonzaga, with the lone loss at Saint Mary's.
- The Dons are coming off a 92-68 win over Pepperdine Saturday at home. USF shot 59.7 percent from the field, including 48 percent from three (12/25). Six Dons finished in double-digit scoring led by Ndewedo Newbury's 19 points and five rebounds. Marcus Williams added 12 points and eight assists.
- San Francisco is fifth in the nation in field goal percentage (49.7), right behind GU in the WCC.
- Jonathan Mogbo is sixth in the conference in scoring at 14.9 points per game (16.1 in WCC games). He is second in the nation in field goal percentage (66.2). The transfer is eighth in the country in rebounds and tops the conference at 10.1 per game.
- Mogbo (3.9) and Williams (3.8) are fourth and fifth in the league is assists per conference game.
- Williams chips in 14.1 points per game, while Malik Thomas adds 11.3 points.
 
SERIES INFO
- This is the 95th all-time meeting between GU and San Francisco. GU has a 72-22 advantage in the series.
- GU is 51-4 against San Francisco under Mark Few.
- The Zags have won 28 straight versus the Dons. USF's last win in the series came on Feb. 18, 2012, 66-65, at USF.
- GU is 26-18 all-time at San Francisco. The Bulldogs have won the last 11 matchups at USF.
- In the matchup earlier this season in Spokane, Gonzaga held off the Dons, 77-72, on Jan. 25. Graham Ike had 22 points, while Anton Watson added 15 points and had seven rebounds and three steals. Ryan Nembhard finished with 13 points and six assists. USF led 31-30 at halftime, but the Zags would take a 13-point lead with 2:44 left in regulation.
- In the last matchup at San Francisco, No.9 GU rallied late for a 77-75 win. Rasir Bolton scored 11 of his 21 points in the final 5:15 to lead Gonzaga back, making three key 3-pointers before his game-winner. Anton Watson and Nolan Hickman added 14 and eight points.
- Gonzaga has won 35 in-a-row in Spokane in the series, including all 20 in the McCarthey Athletic Center.
- The Bulldogs are 40-2 against USF in Spokane all-time. The Dons last won in Spokane in 1989, 67-64.
- San Francisco edged GU, 64-62, in the first-ever meeting at USF on Jan. 28, 1961.
 
UP NEXT
- The 115th all-time meeting between Gonzaga and Saint Mary's Saturday in Moraga. The Bulldogs lead the series 80-34, winning 25 of the last 31 meetings.
- Gonzaga is 56-14 against SMC under Mark Few.
- The Bulldogs are 26-20 all-time at Saint Mary's.
- In last season's meeting in Moraga, the Gaels rallied to win in overtime, 78-70. GU led for 37 minutes, including by eight at halftime, and were led by Drew Timme's 23 points. Anton Watson finished with eight points.
- In the first matchup this season in Spokane, Aidan Mahaney scored 20 points and Saint Mary's rallied late to beat Gonzaga 64-62. Ryan Nembhard had 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting to lead the Bulldogs. Anton Watson had 16 points and 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double, while Graham Ike had 12 points and 12 rebounds for his sixth.
- Gonzaga is 37-11 all-time at home against SMC.
- The Zags are 18-3 against SMC in the WCC Tournament, winning eight of the last nine 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.
 
MILESTONE WATCH
- Anton Watson is three points from passing Bill Suter (1,354) for 24th on the program's all-time scoring list.
- Watson has played 144 games at GU, which is third in program history behind Przemek Karnowski (152) and Josh Perkins (153).
- Watson is 127-17 (88.2) in his career appearances, his 127 wins are third all-time at GU behind Josh Perkins (134) and Przemek Karnowski (137).
- Ben Gregg is one game played from 100.
- Nolan Hickman is three games played from 100.
 
WHERE WE RANK
- GU is second in the nation in field goal percentage (51.6) and 21st in field goal percentage defense (40.3).
- The Zags lead the WCC in scoring offense (86.1), which also ranks fifth in the nation. GU is fourth in the country in scoring margin at 17.0, which tops the conference.
- The Bulldogs are sixth in the nation in two-point percentage (58.8), led by Ben Gregg who is 12th in the country inside-the-arc at 70.6 percent (48/68).
- Gonzaga is eighth in the country in rebound margin (8.9), and 18th averaging 40.18 rebounds per game.
- Ryan Nembhard tops the WCC in assists per game (6.3), which also ranks 14th in the country. He also leads the WCC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.93).
 
LAST TIME IN THE CHASE CENTER ...
- Gonzaga returns to the Chase Center, home of the Golden State Warriors, for the first time since the 2022 NCAA West Regional Semifinal.
- The top-seeded Zags were upset by fourth-seed Arkansas, 74-68, in the Sweet 16.
- Anton Watson grabbed eight rebounds and Nolan Hickman played 13 minutes.
 
TRIPLE BYE IN VEGAS
- Gonzaga is a win away from clinching one of the top two seeds in the 2024 West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas.
- The top two seeds earn triple byes in the event to the semifinals on March 11.
- 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.
 
20/27 VISION
- Gonzaga clinched its 27th straight 20-win season.
- The Zags' 27-straight 20-win seasons rank second for the longest active run in the country. (Kansas 33)
- Prior to the previous 26 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 16 consecutive seasons.
 
QUITE THE FEAT
- Ryan Nembhard is averaging 8.16 assists (49) per game over the last six outings to 1.6 turnovers (10).
- He tops the conference at 6.64 assists per league game, and with a 4.65 assist to turnover ratio.
- The Canadian notched double-doubles in both of Gonzaga's double-digit wins two weeks ago, posting 16 points and 11 assists against Loyola Marymount, and 18 points and 10 assists against Pacific, becoming the first Bulldog to have back-to-back double-digit assist games since Derek Raivio had 11 assists versus Portland State and 13 assists against Montana to open the 2004-05 season.
- Nembhard was the first Zag to get back-to-back double-doubles with assists since Dan Dickau on Jan. 12 and 13, 2001 (13 pts, 10 asts at USF and 15 pts, 12 asts at SMC).
 
HICKMAN HOT OVER LAST FIVE
- Over the last five games, Nolan Hickman is averaging 18.8 points per outing, which is second on the team.
- He is making 51.7 percent of his shots from the field over that stretch, including 52.9 percent from three (18-of-34).
- The junior is also 14-for-15 from the line. He had a string of 19 straight before missing his second attempt against Santa Clara. He has made 21 of his last 22.
- Hickman is 22-of-40 (55 percent) from three-point range over the last six games.
 
GOLDEN GRAHAM
- Graham Ike led Gonzaga with a season-high 26 points in the Santa Clara win, his fifth straight 20-point outing.
- In the home win over Pacific he made all nine of his shots from the field. It was the most makes without a miss by a Zag since Rui Hachimura went 9-for-9 against Denver on Dec. 21, 2018.
- Ike has scored 20 or more points in nine of the last 12 games and has a team-high 11 20-point games.
- He is averaging 16.3 points per game, which ranks second in the WCC, 17.5 per league game.
- The junior is shooting 61.9 percent from the field in WCC games, which ranks second in the conference.
 
FEEL FREE TO USE THESE AT A PARTY ...
- The Bulldogs have won 168 straight games when leading by 10 or more points at halftime.
- Gonzaga's six straight road wins ranks as the third longest current active streak in the country.
- The Bulldogs' six straight overall wins is the ninth longest current active streak in the nation.
- Anton Watson is the only player in program history to have 1,000 points, 700 rebounds, and 200 steals.
- The Zags are 21-1 when scoring 76 points this season.