No. 14/15 Gonzaga (9-3) vs. No. 22/21 UCLA (10-2)
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28 | 1 p.m. | INTUIT DOME | INGLEWOOD, CA
TV: FOX
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE RADIO | LIVE STATISTICS

THE OPENING TIP
– Gonzaga and UCLA meet in the 2024 West Coast Hoops Showdown in Inglewood, Calif., on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Top 25 matchup is the first collegiate game in the new Intuit Dome.
– Gonzaga is coming off an 86-65 home win over Bucknell last Saturday. Graham Ike had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs, while Ben Gregg scored 15 points and Nolan Hickman added 14. The Zags finished the game with 10 steals, including four byes Ryan Nembhardwho also had nine points, nine assists and six rebounds.
– Gonzaga is first in the nation averaging 89.3 points per game, which would rank second in GU history. (2020-21: 91.0)
– Six Zags are currently averaging double-digit results. Five Bulldogs are career scorers with 1,000 points.
– Ryan Nembhards He ranks second nationally in assists with 122 (Sean Newman Jr., Louisiana Tech: 128). Nembhard leads the country with 10.2 assists per game. The senior has 26 turnovers. He ranks fourth nationally with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.69.
– As a team, GU ranks third nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.97). The Zags rank sixth with an average of 19.4 assists per game.
– The Bulldogs rank seventh in the country with an 81.2 percent shooting percentage from the free throw line. GU averages 17.3 free throws per game, leading the West Coast Conference.
– Khalif battle ranks 17th nationally with 92.5 percent. He made 50 consecutive free throws before missing, which ranks second in program history (Derek Raivio, 56)
– Gonzaga ranks fourth nationally in three-point defense percentage and holds opponents to 25.9 percent from behind the arc. No Zag opponent has shot at least 33% from 3-point range and only two have made 10 or more threes in a game against GU.

Looking for the brown ones
– UCLA’s nine-game winning streak ended with a 76-74 loss to North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic last Saturday in New York City. UNC rallied from a 16-point deficit in the second half. Tyler Bilodeau scored a career-high 26 points for the Bruins, making 5 of 6 from behind the arc. Sebastian Mack added 22 points.
– The Bruins’ other loss came in the second game of the season on November 8th in Las Vegas against New Mexico.
– UCLA earned road wins at No. 12 Oregon and over Arizona in Phoenix during the winning streak.
– Bilodeau is averaging a team-high 15.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Eric Dailey Jr. added 10.8 points and Mack came off the bench with 10.3 points.

SERIES INFO
– This is the 10th game all-time between Gonzaga and UCLA. The Bulldogs have won seven of the last nine meetings.
– The programs have met in each of the last four seasons, with the Zags winning all four.
– In the latest matchup, Anthony Watson scored a career-high 32 points and No. 11 Gonzaga defeated UCLA 69-65 in the fifth-place game at the 2023 Maui Invitational. Ryan Nembhard scored 12 points and Nolan Hickman added 11.
– The Zags have won the last three NCAA Tournaments
In the national semifinals in Indianapolis in 2021, GU won 93-90 in overtime. Jalen Suggs scored the winning goal just before the end of the half.
— In the 2023 NCAA West Region semifinals in Las Vegas, Gonzaga won 79-76 after Julian Strawther made a 3-pointer with 7.2 seconds left to set up a 3-pointer from UCLA’s Amari Bailey answer.
– Gonzaga won first ever between programs,
59-43, at UCLA on December 11, 1999.

NEXT
– Gonzaga opens West Coast Conference play at Pepperdine on Monday at 7 p.m
– The Zags open the conference and play the Waves for the third straight year.
– In the last match, GU won 86-61 at Pepperdine last season. It was Mark FewThe 700th victory. Graham Ike scored 24 points and added seven rebounds. Nolan Hickman added 19 points and made three three-pointers. Ben Gregg made his first start of the season and grabbed 10 rebounds. Ryan Nembhard provided eight assists without losing the ball.
– The Bulldogs have won 28 straight West Coast Conference openers, starting with a 72-61 loss at Santa Clara in 1996. Gonzaga has won all 25 WCC openers Mark Few.
– It will be the 98th meeting ever between Gonzaga and Pepperdine. The Zags have a 67-31 lead in the series.
– GU has won 47 straight times against the Waves, with the last Pepperdine win in the series coming on Jan. 18, 2002, 88-79, in Malibu.
– It is the third-longest streak against an opponent in the Div. 1 story and currently the longest active.
– The Bulldogs are 51-2 against the Waves under Few.
– Gonzaga has won 21 straight at Firestone Fieldhouse and is 27-17 all-time in meetings in Malibu.
– Gonzaga won the first-ever meeting at the Knights of Columbus tournament in Portland on December 11, 1964, 93-70.

SHARING IS CARING
– Ryan Nembhards 10.2 assists per game lead the nation after dishing out 122 assists (2nd in the country) and just 26 turnovers. He was first in the NCAA Div. 1 to 100 assists.
– He ranks fourth nationally with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.69.
– Nembhard finished the Battle 4 Atlantis with a career-high and tournament-record 14 assists against Davidson. In the three-game event, he totaled 39 assists and set a new tournament record with just eight turnovers.
– Gonzaga is third nationally with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.97. With 19.4 assists per game, the Zags lead the West Coast Conference and rank sixth nationally.

TAKE CARE OF THE ROCK
– The Bulldogs turn the ball over just 9.8 times per game, which ranks 24th nationally.
– Gonzaga had four turnovers in its win over Long Beach State. The Zags’ second-fewest in the last six seasons. (three turnovers, San Francisco on 3/11/24)
– The Bulldogs rank eighth nationally with a turnover percentage of 13.5. Ole Miss is first at 12.8 percent.

BENEFIT FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
– Gonzaga ranks seventh nationally making 81.2 percent at the free throw line.
– The program record is 79 percent, set in 1988-89. The best free throw shooting team in the world Mark Few was 2005-06, when the Zags shot 78.2 percent.
– In the three games of Battle 4 Atlantis, GU made 54 of its 59 free throws (91.5 percent). The Bulldogs were 21 of 22 in the win over Indiana. Ben Gregg was 16 of 17 from the line in the tournament.
– Khalif battle is 17th nationally with a rate of 92.5 percent (37 out of 40) at the start of the season.
– Ryan Nembhard is sixth in the conference at 86.7 percent (39 of 45) from the free throw line, while Gregg is seventh at 83.7 percent (36 of 43).
– The Bulldogs shot 27 of 31 from the free throw line in a win at San Diego State. The last time Gonzaga shot 85 percent with 30 or more free throw attempts was on January 16, 2020 against Santa Clara. The last time GU accomplished this on the road was January 5, 2013 at Santa Clara.

SEATTLE’S BEST
– Nolan Hickman is currently shooting a career-best 44.8 percent (26 of 58) from behind the arc this season.
– The senior was 8 of 16 from three-point range for Atlantis.
– He surpassed the 1,000 career point mark in the Bahamas.
– According to KenPom, Hickman ranks second in effective field goal percentage in the WCC at 62.9 percent. The next best thing is Zag Khalif battle at 51.4 percent in the 24th.
– He has a 95-21 (.819) record in his Gonzaga career appearances.