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Gonzaga Basketball

Gonzaga’s Ryan Nembhard named one of 10 finalists for Bob Cousy Award as nation’s top point guard

Gonzaga guard Ryan Nembhard looks to drive against Oregon State's Damarco Minor during their Jan. 28 game at McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane.  (Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review)

Still leading the country in multiple statistical categories, Gonzaga’s Ryan Nembhard has been named one of the top 10 candidates for the Bob Cousy Award, the honor given annually to the top point guard in college basketball.

Nembhard joined nine other point guards to make the list, including Purdue’s Braden Smith, Alabama’s Mark Sears, Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr., Iowa State’s Keshon Gilbert, Marquette’s Kam Jones, Penn State’s Ace Baldwin, Rutgers’ Dylan Harper, Tennessee’s Zakai Zeigler and West Virginia’s Jevon Small.

Through 23 regular-season games, Nembhard is averaging a double-double of 11.0 points and 10.0 assists per game, leading the country in the latter category.

The senior from Ontario became the first NCAA player to surpass 100 and 200 assists, and his 229 assists this season lead all players. Nembhard was the fastest player in GU history to reach both 100 and 200 assists and his assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.40 per game is second in the country.

At 9.9 assists per game in WCC play, Nembhard’s currently on pace to break the conference record of 9.2 set by San Francisco’s Orlando Smith in 1991.

Nembhard, the younger brother of former Gonzaga and current Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, is third in the country among active players with 767 career assists.

Nembhard is just 15 assists from matching his single-season program record of 243, set last season by the Creighton transfer during an NCAA Tournament Round of 32 victory against Kansas.

Nembhard’s career assist average of 6.29 is fourth among active leaders and his assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.59 is sixth.

The senior has 14 double-digit assist games this season to go with 10 double-doubles. He set a Battle 4 Atlantis record when he dished out 39 assists over three games in the Bahamas.

Also Monday, Nembhard and teammate Graham Ike were named to the midseason watch list for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, announced by the USBWA.

Ike ranks fourth in the WCC in scoring at 17.6 points per game.