#23/22 Gonzaga (24-6) vs. San Francisco (23-9)
MONDAY, MARCH 10 | 8:30 P.M. | ORLEANS ARENA | LAS VEGAS
TELEVISION: ESPN2
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE RADIO | LIVE STATS
 
THE TIP OFF
- Second-seeded Gonzaga faces third-seeded San Francisco in the second semifinal of the Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Championship at the Orleans Arena Monday at 8:30 p.m. This is the 96th all-time meeting between GU and San Francisco. GU has a 73-22 advantage in the series and the Zags have won 29 straight.
- The Bulldogs have won six of the seven all-time meetings in the West Coast Conference Tournament.
- Gonzaga is 65-16 all-time in the West Coast Conference Tournament with 21 titles and 29 finals appearances, including each of the last 26 seasons. GU has won its opening game of tournament in each of the past 26 years.
- GU has been the No. 2 seed at six WCC Tournaments under Mark Few, going 14-1 with five titles.
- The Bulldogs are coming off a 70-57 win at No. 17 Saint Mary's on March 2. GU led for 35 minutes. Graham Ike scored 24 points, while Ryan Nembhard added 20 points and 10 assists, and Ben Gregg scored 12.
- The Zags are 18-0 this season when scoring 80 points and 18-0 when shooting 50 percent from the field. GU is 21-0 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 (51.9, 2nd in NCAA Div. 1), scoring margin (16.9, 4th in NCAA Div. 1), scoring (85.6, 6th NCAA Div. 1), blocks (4.1) and assists per game (16.3).
- GU is one win from clinching its 17th straight 25-win season. The Zags own the Div. 1 record with 16 straight.
- Few currently boasts the best winning percentage among active head coaches at 83.3 percent, which also is the best in NCAA Div. 1 all-time with a minimum of 10 seasons.
 
ABOUT THE DONS
- San Francisco enters its third straight WCC Tournament semifinal after cruising to a 72-51 quarterfinal win over Portland Saturday. Four Dons finished in double-digit scoring led by Marcus Williams's 16 points with four three-pointers.
- San Francisco is 18th in the nation in field goal percentage (49.0), right behind GU in the WCC.
- Jonathan Mogbo is seventh in the conference in scoring at 14.5 points per game (15.6 in WCC games). He is seventh in the nation in field goal percentage (64.3). The Missouri State transfer is 13th in the country in rebounds and tops the conference at 10.2 per game.
- Mogbo (3.9) and Williams (3.9) are fifth and in the league is assists per game.
- Williams chips in 14.0 points per game, while Malik Thomas adds 11.5 points.
- Mogbo and Williams were named First Team All-WCC. Mogbo was the league's Newcomer of the Year, while Ryan Beasley was the Freshman of the Year. Thomas and Ndewedo Newbury were honorable mention All-Conference.
 
SERIES INFO
- This is the 96th all-time meeting between GU and San Francisco. GU has a 73-22 advantage in the series.
- GU is 52-4 against San Francisco under Mark Few.
- The Zags have won 29 straight versus the Dons. USF's last win in the series came on Feb. 18, 2012, 66-65, at USF.
- The Zags and Dons have met in the WCC semifinals the last two seasons, and including this season USF and Gonzaga have met in five of the seven semifinal rounds.
- GU has won six of the seven all-time meetings in the West Coast Conference Tournament, including the latest in last season's semifinals. Anton Watson scored 20 points and Drew Timme had 17 to help the Bulldogs beat San Francisco 84-73. Ben Gregg added 12 points.
- In the latest meeting on Feb. 29, Graham Ike scored 26 points and No. 23 Gonzaga beat San Francisco 86-68 in the Chase Center in San Francisco. Nolan Hickman scored 22 points and Ryan Nembhard added 15. GU led by one at halftime, then pulled away early in the second half, scoring the first 13 points to build a 14-point lead.
- GU is 27-18 all-time at San Francisco. The Bulldogs have won the last 12 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.
- 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
- With a win, Gonzaga plays in the 2024 University Credit Union West Coast Conference Tournament Championship Game Tuesday at 6 p.m.
- GU's opponent will be the winner of Monday's first semifinal between top-seeded Saint Mary's and fourth-seeded Santa Clara.
TRIPLE BYE IN VEGAS
- Gonzaga has clinched the second seed 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 15 years that the event has been in Las Vegas since 2009. The other four years, GU has been the two-seed.
 
ZAG TRIO NAMED FIRST TEAM ALL-WCC
- Gonzaga's Graham Ike, Ryan Nembhard, and Anton Watson were named First Team All-West Coast Conference. Nolan Hickman earned second team honors and Braden Huff was tabbed All-Freshman.
- All five major individual awards – along with the All-WCC Teams and the All-Freshman Team – were voted on solely by the league's 10 head coaches.
 
NET AND SEEDING
- Gonzaga is currently 16 in the NET. These are the seeds the No. 16 team in the final NET rankings received in the NCAA Tournament.
2023 - Duke (5 seed)
2022 - Texas (6 seed)
2021 - BYU (6 seed)
2019 - Florida State (4 seed)
 
VIVA LAS ZAGAS
- Gonzaga is 65-16 all-time in the West Coast Conference Tournament with 21 titles and 29 finals appearances, including each of the last 26 seasons.
- The Bulldogs are 51-5 under Mark Few in the WCC Tournament with title-game appearances in all 24
seasons.
- The Zags are 32-3 in the WCC Tournament since 2009, when the event moved to Las Vegas.
- GU's three losses in the event in Las Vegas have all been to Saint Mary's, the 2010, 2012 and 2019 finals.
- The Bulldogs were 34-13 in the conference tournament prior to it coming to Vegas.
- The Zags have never lost an opening game of the tournament in Las Vegas, winning all 15.
- Gonzaga has won the opening game of tournament the past 26 years, dating back to a loss in 64-59 in the 1997 quarterfinals to fourth-seeded San Diego as a fifth-seed.
- The Bulldogs are 31-6 in opening games at the event, including 14-6 in the quarterfinals (nine straight wins).
- Gonzaga has won in the WCC tournament semifinals in each of the past 26 years. The Zags last loss in the WCC semifinals was 1994, 83-75, to San Diego in Santa Clara.
- The Bulldogs are 29-2 in semifinal games at the tournament, winning all 15 in Las Vegas.
- Gonzaga is 12-3 in the WCC Tournament finals played in Las Vegas.
- The Bulldogs are 21-8 in championship games at the tournament.
 
ZAGS CLOSE TO 25 WINS ... AGAIN
- Gonzaga has won at least 25 games in each of the last 16 consecutive seasons.
- The Zags have reached the 25-win plateau in 19 of the last 20 seasons, and 23 of the last 25.
- Gonzaga owns the NCAA Div. 1 record with 16 straight 25-win seasons.
 
FANTASTIC IN FINALE
- Gonzaga upset No. 17 Saint Mary's in the regular season finale in Moraga, 70-57.
- The victory snapped the Gaels' national-best 16 game win streak and halted SMC's undefeated West Coast Conference season.
- Gonzaga trailed 12-10 to start the game, but closed the half on a 34-16 run, shooting 14-16 from the field over the final 12:07 of the half.
- The Zags scored 44 points and shot 64 percent in the first half, leading 44-28 at halftime. GU's largest lead was 18, twice in the second half.
- Gonzaga at Saint Mary's drew 1.01 million viewers.
 
MILESTONE WATCH
- Ryan Nembhard is five assists away from passing Josh Perkins (2017-18) for seventh most in a single season in program history.
- Nembhard is eight assists shy of becoming the fifth Zag with 200+ assists in a single season:
Josh Perkins (2018-19) - 234
Matt Santangelo (1999-00) - 225
Blake Stepp (2003-04) - 207
John Stockton (1983-84) - 201
- Nembhard is 13 assists from 500 in his career.
- Anton Watson is 11 points from passing Kyle Wiltjer (1,374) for 23rd on the program's all-time scoring list.
- Watson has played 146 games at GU, which is third in program history behind Przemek Karnowski (152) and Josh Perkins (153).
- Watson is 129-17 (88.4) in his career appearances, his 129 wins are third all-time at GU behind Josh Perkins (134) and Przemek Karnowski (137).
- Graham Ike is 15 points from 1,300 in his career.
- Nolan Hickman is one game played from 100.
- Hickman is 33 points from 900 in his career.