Jim Meehan

Aidan Mahaney

This is one of the rare years when the Zags are projected just inside or just outside the field of 68 by most bracket gurus. Gonzaga hasn’t been in this position since 2016 when the Zags won the West Coast Conference Tournament. They received an 11 seed, a strong indication they wouldn’t have gone dancing if they didn’t cut down the nets in Las Vegas.

Gonzaga's Anton Watson is among 10 candidates for the Julius Erving Award, presented annually to college basketball’s top small forward.

It was an ideal tune-up for Saturday’s showdown with Saint Mary’s at the McCarthey Athletic Center. More on Hickman, Ike hitting the gas pedal from the opening tip and Luka Krajnovic seeing his first game time in six weeks in our latest Gonzaga rewind.

Gonzaga didn’t convert on every LMU miscue, but 16 of the Zags’ first 25 points were courtesy of turnovers. It fueled Gonzaga’s early double-digit lead that turned into a 92-58 West Coast Conference blowout Tuesday at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Roughly a year ago, Dominick Harris was studying Gonzaga’s scouting report on Loyola Marymount. This week, Harris is at or near the top of GU’s scouting report on the Lions.

The biggest West Coast Conference week of the season thus far for Gonzaga arrives early and there’s plenty of interesting storylines. The Zags face their third game in six days with a quick turnaround against Loyola Marymount in a rare Tuesday matchup. LMU, as a 15-point underdog, pulled off a 68-67 upset last January that snapped Gonzaga’s 75-game winning streak at the McCarthey Athletic Center. The Lions’ top scorer, Dominick Harris, was in Gonzaga’s program for three years before transferring to LMU, about 90 miles from his hometown of Murrieta, California. And then there’s the first of two regular-season games against rival Saint Mary’s on Saturday.

Gonzaga wasn’t having much luck behind the 3-point line most of the night.That, along with the fact two of Tigers’ biggest frontcourt players were battling foul trouble, was the main reason Pacific was content to sit in a 3-2 zone while the Bulldogs misfired from distance. Gonzaga finally found the range behind the 3-point arc just when it needed it later in the second half in pulling away from the Tigers 82-73 on Saturday at the Spanos Center in Stockton, California.

Ryan Nembhard

Gonzaga’s head coach has mentioned several times that fans should anticipate closer games, especially on the road, because the Zags don’t have the talent level to simply show up and win big. He didn’t say it specifically but that figures to apply to home games, particularly against the better teams in the West Coast Conference. The first of those on the conference schedule arrived Thursday and resulted in a hard-fought 77-72 win over San Francisco that the Zags made more stressful than necessary with some faulty free-throw shooting.

Just when it looked like Gonzaga had taken command with a 17-4 spurt, the Dons rallied in the closing minutes – which seemed to last forever thanks to Gonzaga’s repeated trips to the foul line – to make it interesting in the final minute. The Zags survived some shaky free-throw shooting to hold on for a 77-72 victory in front of a full house of 6,000 Thursday at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Gonzaga should face a steady diet of upper tier WCC foes virtually every week the rest of way – one exception being Feb. 10th when the Zags step out of conference to visit No. 6 Kentucky – beginning with Thursday’s date with San Francisco at the McCarthey Athletic Center. “Like I told them in there,” Zags coach Mark Few said after a 105-63 blowout over San Diego last Saturday, “we’re trending upward but now we’re going to play one of the better teams in the league, one you’re going to have to beat if you have designs on winning the league championship.”

It figures to be one of the best individual matchups in the West Coast Conference this season. Jonathan Mogbo does a little, correct that, a lot of everything at both ends of the court for San Francisco. Anton Watson handles a similar role for Gonzaga.

Gonzaga is on the outside looking in for the second straight week in the Associated Press college basketball poll. The Zags are also on the outside looking in with most bracket projections for the NCAA Tournament. However, GU's numbers improved in a few other metrics that hold more weight with the NCAA Tournament selection committee – with more opportunities are on the horizon.

Gonzaga and Ben Gregg dodged an injury scare late in the first half.

Braden Huff

In his 88th career game as a Zag, Ben Gregg made his first start Thursday. The 6-foot-10 junior forward essentially did all the things he’s consistently brought to the team coming off the bench, but this time it happened after hearing his name announced with the first unit.

It was the kind of momentum-seizing run Gonzaga has made a habit of through the years but hasn’t been as prevalent this season. The timing couldn’t have been better. The Zags broke away from a halftime tie with a 23-3 spurt to open the second half and coasted to an 86-61 West Coast Conference victory Thursday at Firestone Fieldhouse.

Before Gonzaga-Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga-BYU developed into entertaining rivalries, Gonzaga-Pepperdine was the headliner in West Coast Conference basketball. The Zags were still in the process of establishing residency on the national stage early in Mark Few’s coaching tenure in 2002 when the Zags lost 88-79 to a talented Pepperdine squad in Malibu. Nearly a month later in the rematch, Dan Dickau scored 26 points in GU's 91-78 victory at the Martin Centre. The Zags haven’t lost to the Waves since -- an improbable span of 46 games over 22 years.

We highlighted Michael Ajayi in this space a few weeks ago before the first Gonzaga-Pepperdine matchup, so we’ll shift the focus to junior guard Houston Mallette for Thursday’s rematch in Malibu.

MALIBU, Calif. – Gonzaga’s Mark Few has a 50-2 record against Pepperdine, including 46 consecutive wins in the series, but it’s a matchup that always has the 25th-year head coach’s undivided attention.

Depending how you look at it, the fact that Gonzaga’s 77-76 loss to Santa Clara on came during a single-game week for the Bulldogs could be a blessing or a curse.

Former Gonzaga Bulldogs Malachi Smith and Drew Timme are teammates again, this time in the NBA G League.

Rebounding had been something Gonzaga could count on this season. That wasn’t the case Thursday. At one point later in the first half, Santa Clara had as many offensive boards (eight) as Gonzaga had on the offensive and defensive glass. The Zags responded in the second half, but still lost the boards 44-31 and lost the game 77-76 at the Leavey Center.