Gonzaga (16-6, 7-2 WCC) at Saint Mary's (19-3, 9-0 WCC)
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1 | 8 P.M. | UCU PAVILION | MORAGA, CA
TELEVISION: ESPN2
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THE OPENING TIP
- Gonzaga travels to Moraga, Calif., for a matchup at current West Coast Conference leader Saint Mary's Saturday at 8 p.m. The Zags and Gaels have finished in the top two of the West Coast Conference standings in 12 of the past 13 seasons.
- Gonzaga is coming off a 98-60 win over Oregon State in Spokane Tuesday. Khalif Battle scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the first half. Graham Ike added 22 points, Nolan Hickman finished with 16 points, Michael Ajayi had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Ryan Nembhard had nine assists to one turnover.
- Ryan Nembhard's 217 assists are first in the nation, to only 48 turnovers. Nembhard's 9.9 assists per game also tops the country. His 4.52 assist-to-turnover ratio is second.
- As a team, Gonzaga is first in the nation in assists per game at 19.9 and assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.00.
- The Zags 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.
- GU is second in the country averaging 89.6 points per game, fourth in free-throw percentage (80.3), and third in field goal percentage (50.2). GU averages 16.3 made free throws per game, which leads the West Coast Conference.
- Nolan Hickman is third in the nation shooting 47.1 percent from three-point range, and Khalif Battle is 10th from the free-throw line at 92.3 percent (1st in WCC).
- Graham Ike (60.3 percent) and Braden Huff (55.6 percent) are first and second in the WCC in field goal percentage.
- Graham Ike is fourth in the West Coast Conference averaging 19.0 points per league game, while shooting 63.1 percent from the field, which ranks second in the league. He is fourth grabbing 7.9 rebounds per conference game.
- Ben Gregg tops the WCC at 67.1 percent from the field during conference play. He also leads the league shooting 71.7 percent (71/99) from inside-the-arc in all games.
- Mark Few was recently named a first-time nominee for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
 
SCOUTING THE GAELS
- Saint Mary's enters the weekend as the conference leader and unbeaten at 9-0 league play.
- SMC won its ninth straight game, the ninth-longest active streak in the nation, at Santa Clara Wednesday, 67-54. The victory was also the 15th consecutive win on the road, which leads the country.
- Mitchell Saxen and Luke Barrett led Saint Mary's with 12 and 10 points in the win. Four Gaels added nine points and another had eight. Paulius Murauskas grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds with his nine points. Augustas Marciulionis finished with five assists and nine points.
- Saint Mary's trailed for only 46 seconds in the game, including 24-22 at the 3:14 mark of the first half. The Gaels then held SCU scoreless for 13 minutes and 16 seconds and went on a 30-0 run to control the game.
- Four Gaels average double-digit scoring led by Marciulionis's 13.6 points per outing. The defending WCC Player of the Year is fourth adding 5.68 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
- Saxen, the reigning league defender of the year, enters the game as the nation's leader in offensive rebounds per game at 4.36. The senior also averages a team-high 1.5 steals.
- Saxen and Luke Barrett both average 10.5 points per game.
- Arizona transfer Paulius Murauskas is tied for the WCC lead with nine double-doubles this season. He leads the league pulling down 8.9 rebounds per outing. He's scoring 13.1 points per contest.
- Jordan Ross and Mikey Lewis chip in 9.1 and 8.7 points.
 
SERIES INFO
- This is the 117th all-time meeting between Gonzaga and Saint Mary's. The Bulldogs lead the series 82-35, winning 26 of the last 33 meetings.
- Gonzaga is 57-15 against SMC under Mark Few.
- The Bulldogs are 27-20 all-time at Saint Mary's.
- Saint Mary's won the last matchup, 69-60, in the 2024 West Coast Conference Tournament Championship in Las Vegas. Anton Watson led the No. 17 Zags with 18 points. Ryan Nembhard finished with 13 points and 11 assists, and Graham Ike had 10 points. Mitchell Saxen had 19 points and 15 rebounds for the No. 21 Gaels.
- In last season's meeting in Moraga, Graham Ike scored 24 points and No. 23 Gonzaga handed No. 17 Saint Mary's its first conference loss of the season in the regular season finale. Ryan Nembhard added 20 points and 10 assists, while Ben Gregg scored 12.
- In last season's meeting in Spokane, Aidan Mahaney scored 20 points and SMC rallied late to beat GU 64-62. Ryan Nembhard had 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting to lead the Bulldogs, while Graham Ike had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
- Gonzaga is 37-11 all-time at home against SMC.
- The Bulldogs won the first all-time meeting between the programs, 94-77, in Spokane in 1955.
- The Zags are 18-4 against SMC in the WCC Tournament, winning eight of the last 10 meetings in the event. The teams have met in the tournament 13 of the past 15 years.
 
UP NEXT
- The 104th all-time meeting between GU and Loyola Marymount Thursday in the McCarthey Athletic Center at 6 p.m.
- Gonzaga has an 82-22 advantage in the series.
- GU has won 33 of the last 35 meetings.
- The Bulldogs are 50-4 against LMU under Mark Few.
- In the first meeting this season in L.A., Graham Ike scored 27 points, Khalif Battle added 26 and Gonzaga rolled to a 96-68 victory. Michael Ajayi came off the bench with 15 points.
- Gonzaga is 41-7 at home against the Lions.
- In last season's game in Spokane, Nolan Hickman scored a career-high 24 points and GU cruised to a 92-58 victory. Hickman sank 10 of 14 shots with four 3-pointers, adding five assists for the Bulldogs. Graham Ike scored 20 on 8-for-9 shooting. Ben Gregg finished with 11 points, five rebounds and three blocks. Braden Huff had 10 points and five boards off the bench.
- The Zags won the first all-time meeting between the programs, 75-71, in Spokane in 1953.
 
THE BEST IN THE WEST
- Gonzaga and Saint Mary's have finished in the top two of the West Coast Conference standings in 12 of the past 13 seasons, and 15 of the last 19 seasons. (SMC: second in 2021-22 and 2022-23, fourth in 2013-14 and third in 2006-07)
- The last 23 regular season titles have been won or shared by Gonzaga or Saint Mary's. The Zags have won or shared 21, while SMC has won or shared three.
- The last 14 WCC Tournament titles have been won by either Gonzaga or SMC. GU has 11 of those 14 titles.
 
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 eight times, four players eight times, and three players five times.
- Six Zags have scored 20 points in a game this season, and eight have multiple 20-point games in their careers.
 
SPEAKING OFFENSIVELY
- GU is first in the nation in assists per game at 19.9 and assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.00.
- The Bulldogs are averaging 20.78 assists in conference play, which leads the league by over three assists per game.
- Gonzaga is averaging 23.4 assists over its last five games.
- The Zags are second in the country averaging 89.6 points per game and third in field goal percentage (50.2).
- Gonzaga is averaging 93.1 points in its WCC games. It would be the most points averaged in conference play since Loyola Marymount scored 97.8 points per game in 1991.
- GU is first in the country in points per possession at 1.204, and first making 32.5 field goals per game.
- The Zags are second in the country getting 48.4 percent of points from two-pointers, after being top five in the nation in the category the last three seasons.
- Gonzaga is first in the nation averaging 43.5 points per first half and fourth in second half scoring 45.0.
 
THE POINT GOD
- Ryan Nembhard's 9.9 assists per game tops the nation.
- The nation's leader in assists became the first player in the country to eclipse the 200-assist mark this season, now at 217. He was the first in NCAA Div. 1 to 100 assists and the fastest to 100 assists in a season in program history.
- His 4.52 assist-to-turnover ratio is second in the country.
- Nembhard is the first player in program history to have multiple 200 assist seasons.
- Currently third in the WCC at 34.6 minutes per game.
- He set a new Canadian record for career assists by a NCAA Div. 1 player.
Current All-Time Canadian D1 Assists Leaders:
1. Ryan Nembhard (Creighton/Gonzaga) 755
2. Marcus Carr (Pittsburgh/Minnesota/Texas) 747
3. Andrew Nembhard (Florida/Gonzaga) 691
- Nembhard currently leads the WCC averaging 9.7 assists per league game. The conference record is 9.2 set by Orlando Smart of USF in 1991.
- The senior is third in the country among active leaders in career assists with 755. Dajuan Harris Jr. of Kansas leads at 786. Nembhard's 6.24 assist career average is fourth among active leaders, and his 2.59 assist to turnover is sixth.
- The program career record is 712 set by Josh Perkins, Nembhard's two-year Gonzaga total of 459 assists ranks seventh in GU's all-time Top 10.
- Nembhard has 13 double-digit assist outings out of the 22 games this season, with nine double-doubles.
- Last season, Nembhard became 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).
- Nembhard finished with a career-high and single game tournament record 14 assists against Davidson in the Battle 4 Atlantis. He totaled 39 assists in the three-game event, setting a new tournament record, to just eight turnovers.
 
THE GREGGACY
- Ben Gregg tops the WCC shooting 71.7 percent from inside-the-arc. The senior is also first in the conference shooting 68.8 percent from the field in league games.
- Over the last six games, Gregg is shooting 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) from three-point range, after being 6-of-34 (17.6 percent) in the previous 17 games.
- He went 10-for-10 from the field, finishing with a game-high 24 points, to lead Gonzaga to a dominant 105-62 win at Portland.
- Gregg's 10 made shots from the field were the most without a miss in the Mark Few era.
- Gregg became just the ninth player in conference history to have 10 made shots from the field without a miss.
- Gregg made all four of his three-pointers and added six rebounds in 20 minutes.
 
SEATTLE'S BEST
- Nolan Hickman is third in the nation shooting 47.1 percent from three-point range.
- Hickman is 21-of-36 (58.3 percent) from behind-the-arc over the last five games.
- He is shooting a West Coast Conference best 50.9 percent (28-of-55) from three-point range in league play.
- The Seattle native also leads the WCC averaging 3.1 made threes per conference game.
- He is making a career-high 47.1 percent from three this season, at a career-best 2.5 made threes per game.
- The senior's 56 made threes rank first in the WCC.
 
GOLDEN GRAHAM
- Graham Ike was named Midseason third team All-American by the Sporting News.
- He leads the WCC in field goal percentage (60.3).
- The senior is fourth in the West Coast Conference in scoring in league games (19.0), fourth in rebounds (7.9), and second in field goal percentage (63.1).
- He has five 20-point games over the last seven games, 10 this season, and 41 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 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.
 
BULLDOG BITES
- GU is 16-1 when Nolan Hickman makes four or more threes in a game during his 126 career appearances.
- The Bulldogs are 11-1 when Ben Gregg scores 15 points or more in his 128 career appearances. Gonzaga is 19-1 when he makes two or more three-pointers in a game.
 
MILESTONE WATCH
- Graham Ike is two rebounds shy of 800 in his career.
- Khalif Battle needs four rebounds for 400 in his career, and his next free throw will be his 500th (433-499).
- Ryan Nembhard is nine assists away from passing Matt Santangelo (1999-2000) for third most in a single season in program history.
- Nembhard became the first Zag with two 200+ assists in a single season:
Ryan Nembhard (2023-24) - 243
Josh Perkins (2018-19) - 234
Matt Santangelo (1999-00) - 225
Ryan Nembhard (2024-25) - 217
Blake Stepp (2003-04) - 207
John Stockton (1983-84) - 201
- Nolan Hickman is five assists from 300 in his career. He is six made threes away from 10th all-time in GU career history (Steven Gray, 210).
- Ben Gregg is three points from 800 in his career and nine rebounds from 500.
- Ben Gregg's 128 appearances ranks 14th all-time in program history, six behind Drew Timme for 13th.
- Nolan Hickman's 126 career appearances are 16th all-time at Gonzaga, two behind Gregg and Matt Bouldin.
- Gregg is four wins (108) from the Top-10 in program history in career victories, and Hickman (102) is 10 away. David Stockton currently ranks 10th at 112 from 2011-14.