Gonzaga (14-6, 5-2 WCC) at Portland (7-14, 2-6)
SATURDAY, JANUARY 25 | 5 P.M. | CHILES CENTER | PORTLAND, OR
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THE OPENING TIP
- Gonzaga heads to Portland for the second meeting between the programs this season and the 177th in the all-time series. The matchup is scheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m. in the Chiles Center.
- Gonzaga is coming off a 103-99 loss to Santa Clara last Saturday in Spokane. Nolan Hickman led GU with a career-high 24 points, hitting a career-high six 3-pointers. Graham Ike scored 21 points, and Ryan Nembhard had 16 points and a career-high 15 assists to one turnover. GU had 28 assists as a team.
- Graham Ike is fourth in the West Coast Conference averaging 19.3 points per league game, while shooting 60.5 percent from the field, which ranks second in the league. He has four 20-point games over the last five games.
- Ryan Nembhard's 194 assists are first in the nation. The senior has 46 turnovers. Nembhard's 9.7 assists per game ranks first in the country. His 4.22 assist-to-turnover ratio is second.
- GU and No. 1 Auburn are the only two programs in the nation with six players, that have appeared in at least 10 games, averaging double-digit scoring.
- Gonzaga is third in the nation averaging 88.4 points per game, which would rank third in GU history. (2020-21: 91.0)
- As a team, GU is second in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.89). The Zags are fourth averaging 19.4 assists per game.
- The Bulldogs are fifth in the country shooting 80.3 percent from the free throw line. GU averages 16.3 made free throws per game, which leads the West Coast Conference.
- Khalif Battle is eighth in the nation from the line at 92.3 percent (1st in WCC). He made 50 straight free throws before missing which ranks second in program history (Derek Raivio, 56)
- Graham Ike (59 percent) and Braden Huff (57.3 percent) are first and second in the WCC in field goal percentage.
- Graham Ike was named Midseason Third Team All-American by Sporting News, and Ryan Nembhard was named to the Wooden Award Top 25 Midseason Watch List.
- Mark Few was recently named a first-time nominee for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
 
SCOUTING THE PILOTS
- Portland won its second in the last three games with a 92-82 win over San Diego Thursday in Portland. The Pilots improved to 6-5 inside the Chiles Center with the win.
- Max Mackinnon tied a school record with 43 points in the victory. He finished 9-for-17 from the field, drilled a career-best 7-of-9 three-pointers, and converted 18-of-22 free throws.
- Chris Austin continued his stellar play with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists. Austin Rapp added 17 points and eight rebounds.
- Portland shot 45 percent overall and made 13-of-28 three-pointers. The Pilots finished with 21 assists.
- Rapp averages a team-high 13.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He's also made a team-best 51 threes.
- Mackinnon adds 12.9 points per outing, shooting 47.2 percent from the field.
 
SERIES INFO
- This the 177th all-time meeting between GU and Portland.
- The Zags have a 110-66 advantage in the series.
- GU has won 19 straight versus the Pilots.
- The Bulldogs are 46-2 against Portland under Mark Few.
- The Pilots last win in the series came on Jan. 9, 2014, 82-73, at Portland.
- In the first meeting this season in Spokane, Gonzaga cruised to an 81-50 victory in the 2025 Community Cancer Fund Classic in the Spokane Arena on Jan. 2. Nolan Hickman had 13 points, and Ryan Nembhard added 10 points and nine assists for the Bulldogs. Dusty Stromer scored 12, Braden Huff had 10 points and Michael Ajayi pulled down 15 rebounds.
- GU is 38-22 at Portland in the series. The Zags have won nine in-a-row, and 25 of the last 26, in the Chiles Center.
- In last season's meeting in Portland, the Zags rolled to an 86-65 on Feb. 22, 2024. Graham Ike scored 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Nolan Hickman scored 19 points, making four three-pointers. Ben Gregg scored 13 points. Ryan Nembhard scored eight points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out seven assists.
- Gonzaga is 43-6 at home in the series, and has won 19 in-a-row over Portland at home, dating back to a 72-68 loss on Feb. 19, 2003.
- Portland edged GU, 70-66, in the first-ever NCAA meeting on Jan. 18, 1959, inside the Spokane Coliseum.
 
UP NEXT
- The 29th all-time meeting between Gonzaga and Oregon State. The Beavers own a 26-2 advantage in the series.
- After not meeting since 1991, the Pacific Northwest programs separated by 437 miles played in Corvallis in the first meeting this season on Jan. 16. OSU held off No. 16 Gonzaga in overtime, 97-89. Graham Ike had 26 points and nine rebounds to lead five Zags in double-digits. Ben Gregg added 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Ryan Nembhard had 13 points and 10 assists.
- The schools first met on Feb. 20, 1911, a 13-11 Bulldog win in Spokane.
- Oregon State has won the last 13 matchups, dating back to a 27-24 GU victory in 1932.
- The Beavers have won eight of the nine all-time meetings in Spokane, and all 14 in Corvallis.
 
GETTING OFFENSIVE
- Gonzaga's offense did its part in the setback to Santa Clara.
- The Bulldogs scored 99 points behind 54.5 percent shooting from the field, and 10 made three-pointers.
- GU's 28 assists, on 36 made shots from the field, were the third-most by a Mark Few led Zag team, and four off the team record for most in a single game.
- Ryan Nembhard had 15 assists to one turnover. His 15 assists were the second-most in program history, one off the single record set by Blake Stepp in 2002.
- The 15 assists were a McCarthey Athletic Center record, surpassing Derek Raivio's 13 in 2004.
- Nolan Hickman's six threes were the most by a Bulldog in a game since 2021.
 
BULLDOG BALANCE
- Gonzaga and No. 1 Auburn are the only two programs in the nation with six players, that have appeared in at least 10 games, averaging double-digit scoring.
- Five different Zags have been the high-scorer in a game this season, while four have led in rebounds.
- The Bulldogs have had six players in double-figures three times this season, five players in double-digits seven times, four players seven times, and three players five times.
- Four Zags have scored 20 points in a game this season, and eight have multiple 20-point games in their careers.
 
A CLOSER LOOK
- Gonzaga's six losses have been by a combined 30 points and all by single digits, with the largest margin being eight points.
- Three of the losses have been in overtime and two have been by one possession.
- GU led for double-digit minutes in five of those six games, and the majority of the time in three.
- Gonzaga led in the second half at some point in each loss but the UConn game, and the Bulldogs and Huskies were tied in the second half of that matchup.
- GU trailed at half in only three of those games, by three to UConn, by two to UCLA, and by one at Oregon State.
- The Zags rank 344th out of 364 in KenPom's luck ratings.
 
GOLDEN GRAHAM
- Graham Ike was named Midseason third team All-American by the Sporting News.
- The senior is fourth in the West Coast Conference in scoring in league games (19.3), third in rebounds (8.7), and second in field goal percentage (60.5).
- He has four 20-point games over the last five games, nine this season, and 40 in his career.
- Ike pulled down a career-high 19 rebounds in the victory over San Diego on Jan. 8.
- The 19 rebounds were a new McCarthey Athletic Center record, topping Drew Timme's 17 against Kent State in 2022.
- The 19 rebounds were the third-most under Mark Few, and the most since Domantas Sabonis's 20 at Pacific in 2016. Josh Heytvelt had 22 at Pepperdine in 2007.
- Ike's 19 rebounds were the second-most by a player in the West Coast Conference this season. San Diego's Sam Trouet had 20 against UC-San Diego on Dec. 21.
- It matched the third-most by a WCC player since 2020-21, and sixth-most in the past 10 seasons.
- Ike's 13 made free-throws was one shy of tying the McCarthey Athletic Center record for most makes in a single game. He finished 13-of-15 from the line versus USD.