#8/8 Gonzaga (16-1, 4-0 WCC) vs. Santa Clara (13-4, 4-0 WCC)
THURSDAY, JAN. 8 | 8:30 P.M. PT | SPOKANE | McCARTHEY ATHLETIC CENTER
TELEVISION: ESPN2
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THE OPENING TIP
- Gonzaga hosts Santa Clara in the McCarthey Athletic Center Thursday at 8:30 p.m. This is the 105th all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and Broncos, and GU has won 51 of the last 55 meetings.
- The Zags are coming off an 82-47 win over Loyola Marymount Sunday. GU held the Lions to a season-low point total on a season-low 30.2 field goal percentage. Graham Ike led four double-digit Gonzaga scorers with 16 points, while grabbing seven rebounds. Jalen Warley added 12 points and seven rebounds, and Mario Saint-Supery had 13 points and five assists. The Bulldogs had 53 points from their bench, and outscored LMU 48-24 in the paint. GU outrebounded the Loyola Marymount, 46-33.
- GU is one of four teams in the nation with both its offense (7th) and defense (10th) in KenPom's Top 10.
- The Zags currently lead the WCC in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.93, 7th in NCAA), assists (20.1, 7th), bench points (38.7, 10th), effective field goal percentage (.580, 20th), fast-break points (15.9), field goal percentage (52.4, 9th), field goal percentage defense (38.8, 24th), defensive rebounds per game (30.47, 6th), rebounds (43.35, 11th), scoring margin (24.2, 6th), scoring offense (91.6, 13th), three-point percentage defense (29.0), turnover margin (4.3, 23rd), and turnovers (10.4). GU tops the nation in points in the paint averaging 48.4 per game, and has made 203 more twos than its opponents (Miami FL second at 136).
- Ike is fifth in the nation, and first in the WCC, with nine double-doubles this season. Braden Huff is first in the country with 139 made field goals, and is 10th making 66.2 percent from the field (69.8% inside-the-arc). Braeden Smith tops the WCC, and is eighth in the nation, with a 4.05 assist-to-turnover ratio.
- In the win over Seattle, Huff became the fifth Zag on the roster to reach the 1,000-point club in his career.
- Ike eclipsed the 1,000 career rebound mark at Pepperdine. Only two players in West Coast Conference history achieved that feat, Bill Cartwright and Yoeli Childs. Only Jerry Vermillion reached 1,000 rebounds in a career at GU, grabbing 1,670 rebounds from 1952-55. Ike had 382 of his 1,024 rebounds while at Wyoming.
- Ike tops the nation among active scorers in NCAA Div. 1 with 2,227 points, Indiana's Tucker DeVries is second at 2,203. Ike's 1,031 rebounds also ranks second among active players. He is the only active player with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career. Ike was named preseason All-American by CBS Sports and ESPN, and to the NABC, Wooden, Lute Olson, and Naismith Player of the Year watch lists.
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SCOUTING THE BRONCOS
- Santa Clara enters Spokane on a four-game win streak after cruising to a 98-70 home win over San Diego Sunday. Christian Hammond had a game-high 21 points for the Broncos, shooting 9-of-13 from the field. Thierry Darlan and Allen Graves both came off the bench to score 14 and 12 points. Graves grabbed nine rebounds. Elijah Mahi had seven points and nine assists. SCU had 24 assists and 13 steals. The Broncos shot 50 percent from the field, including 14-of-41 from behind-the-arc.
- Hammond averages a team-best 17 points per game. Mahi adds 14.9 points per outing, with a team-high 31 made threes. Graves leads the Broncos with 6.6 rebounds and is first in the WCC with 33 steals.
- Santa Clara leads the conference in three-pointers per game (9.9) and three-point attempts (30.3). The Broncos also top the league grabbing 14.18 offensive rebounds per outing, and steals per game (9.3).
- Three of SCU's four losses have been by one possession.
- Through their first four WCC games, the Broncos' have outscored their opponents by a league-best average of 23 points. Santa Clara tops the conference scoring 93.5 points per league game.
 
SERIES INFO
- This is the 105th meeting between Gonzaga and Santa Clara. The Bulldogs own a 72-32 advantage in the series.
- GU has won 51 of the last 55 against the Broncos.
- The Zags are 48-6 against SCU under Mark Few.
- Gonzaga is 36-7 all-time in Spokane in the series.
- In the latest matchup, the Bulldogs rolled to a 95-76 win at Santa Clara on Feb. 25. With 15 assists, Ryan Nembhard broke the WCC single season assist record. Graham Ike scored 24 points on 11-of-13 shooting from the field.
- Gonzaga is 27-24 all-time at Santa Clara, but have won 23 of their last 25 at SCU.
- In last season's meeting in Spokane on Jan. 18, the Broncos upset No. 16 Gonzaga, 103-99. Nolan Hickman led Gonzaga 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. The victory snapped a 16-game home win streak for the Zags.
- Santa Clara won the first all-time meeting between the programs, 67-62, in Santa Clara on Feb. 3, 1959.
 
UP NEXT
- The 153rd all-time meeting between Gonzaga and Washington State in Pullman Thursday at 7 p.m.
- The Cougars have an 98-54 all-time lead.
- GU has won nine of the last 10 meetings, including each of the last seven.
- The Zags are 14-3 against WSU under Few.
- The Cougars last win in the series came in Pullman on Dec. 8, 2010, 81-59. Klay Thompson scored 24 points and had six assists for WSU, and the Cougars made 11-of-21 from three-point range. Sam Dower led GU with 11 points, while Rob Sacre grabbed 10 rebounds.
- Washington State has a 45-21 advantage in the series at home in Pullman.
- In the most recent matchup, in front of the first sellout crowd in Beasley Coliseum in 15 years, the Bulldogs picked up an 84-63 win in Pullman on Feb. 19. Nolan Hickman was one point off his career-high with 23 points, with four made three-pointers and five assists. Graham Ike added 17 points and 13 rebounds. Braden Huff had 11 points in 11 minutes on 5-of-7 shooting from the field.
- Gonzaga won last season's meeting in Spokane, 88-75. Graham Ike had 21 points and seven rebounds. Nolan Hickman added 19 points and hit five 3-pointers, and Ben Gregg had 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
- WSU has a 54-37 advantage in the meetings in Spokane, including games at the Spokane Arena.
- Gonzaga is 30-33 against the Cougars in games on the GU campus all-time, but the Zags have won five of the six matchups in the McCarthey Athletic Center, including the last 90-74 in 2013.
- Gonzaga won the first-ever meeting with Washington State, 21-18, in Spokane on Dec. 16, 1907.
 
WE'RE GOING STREAKING
- Gonzaga is one win from its 10th straight victory.
- The Zags have had at least 10 wins in-a-row in 17 seasons under Mark Few, but this would be the first since 2022-23.
 
BULLDOGS OFF TO GREAT START
- Gonzaga is off to its best start to a season since 2020-21, when the Zags won every game (31-0) until the national championship loss to Baylor.
- This is also the sixth-best start in program history.
- Previously, the Bulldogs have opened conference play with no losses or one loss in non-league action only six times.
 
TAMING THE LIONS
- Gonzaga held Loyola Marymount to 47 points in an 82-47 home win on Jan. 4.
- The Lions led 14-4 to open the game, but the Bulldogs closed the half on a 29-5 run. Gonzaga finished the game on a 78-33 run overall. The Lions were scoreless for 8 minutes, 53 seconds in the first half and followed with an 8-minute, 5-second drought in the second.
- LMU's 47 points was its season low by 14.
- The Lions made their last four shots and six of their last nine to finish at 30.2 percent.
- Gonzaga held Loyola Marymount to 0.68 points per possession, the second lowest total in Stan Johnson's six seasons.
 
A BLAST FROM THE BENCH
- Gonzaga outscored Loyola Marymount 53-18 in points off the bench. It was the second-most bench points this season, following a 54-point effort at San Diego.
- The 54 bench points scored at USD match the most since 2018-19 (54 pts, vs Pepperdine in 2022).
- Entering 2025-26, the Zags had 50 points from their bench only twice in the previous seven seasons. GU has five 50-point bench games this season.
 
HUFF JOINS 1,000-POINT CLUB
- Braden Huff became the 52nd Bulldog to join the program's 1,000-point career scoring club.
- He needed 15 points entering the home game against Seattle and finished with 28 on 11-of-14 shooting.
- The Illinois native is the fifth Zag on the roster with at least 1,000 points in their career.
- Huff is currently second in the conference in scoring (18.1), and tops the country in field goals made (139). He is shooting a conference-best 66.2 percent from the field.
 
GOLDEN GRAHAM
- Graham Ike is the nation's active leading scorer with 2,227 career points. His 1,031 rebounds rank second. No other player has 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
- Ike also leads the country with 851 field goals made in his career, and is fourth with 494 made free-throws.
- His 40 career double-doubles rank second.
- His nine double-doubles this season ranks fifth in the nation. He had two games with nine rebounds with double-digit scoring. He's reached double-digit scoring in all but one game.
- In the WCC, Ike is currently fifth in scoring (16.8), third in field goal percentage (52.2), and second in rebounds (8.5).
- Ike was named preseason All-American by CBS Sports and ESPN, and to the NABC, Wooden, Lute Olson, and Naismith Player of the Year watch lists.
 
FINDING HIS GROOVE
- Through the first four conference games, Tyon Grant-Foster is averaging a team-high 16 points per contest at a WCC-best 72.7 percent (24-of-33) from the field.
- He also has 10 blocks in the four league games, which ranks second in the league.
- His five blocks against Seattle was a career-high.
 
SCORING BREAKDOWN
- Gonzaga tops the nation averaging 34.8 made field goals per game, third in extra scoring chances per game (8.1), eighth in first half points per game (44.5), fourth in second half scoring margin (12.4), and third in percentage of points from two-pointers (59.7).
- The Zags' 26 kill shots, which are 10-0 scoring runs, are the most in the country.
 
20/29 VISION
- GU is four wins from its 29th straight 20-win season.
- The Zags' 28-straight 20-win seasons rank second for the longest active run in the country. (Kansas 37)
- Prior to the previous 28 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 18 consecutive seasons, which is a NCAA Div. 1 record.