MBB and Oregon State meet for the first time in 34 years

On January 17, 2025By Littum

THE OPENING TIP
– Pacific Northwest Enemies, no. 16/16 Gonzaga and Oregon State meet for the first time in 34 years in a West Coast Conference game Thursday at 8:00 PM in Gill Coliseum.
– Gonzaga is coming off an 88-75 win over Washington State on Saturday. Graham Ike had 21 points and seven rebounds, while Nolan Hickman added 19 points with five three-pointers. The Bulldogs led by as many as 23 points in the second half.
– With the exception of last season’s 2-1 start in league play, GU has opened 5-0 in WCC play in every season since 2014-15.
– Gonzaga’s 11 straight true road wins are the second-longest active streak in the nation. (Saint Mary’s – 12)
– Ryan Nembhardt 169 assists are first in the nation. The senior has 43 turnovers. Nembhard’s 9.4 assists per match is number two in the country. His 3.93 assist-to-turnover ratio is sixth.
– GU and No. 1 Auburn is the only two programs in the nation with six players who have appeared in at least 10 games, averaging double figures in scoring.
– Gonzaga is fourth in the nation averaging 87.8 points per game, which would be third in GU history. (2020-21: 91.0)
– As a team, GU ranks fifth in the country in ratio between assists and turnovers (1.86). The Zags are sixth with an average of 18.9 assists per game.
– The Bulldogs are ranked sixth in the country and shoot 80.7 percent from the free throw line. GU has made an average of 16.1 free throws per game. game, leading to the West Coast Conference.
– Khalif fight is 16th in the nation from the line at 91.5 percent. Made 50 consecutive free throws before missing, tied for second most in program history (Derek Raivio, 56)
– Gonzaga is 22nd in the nation in three-point percentage defense, holding opponents to 28.4 percent from behind the arc. Only three Zag opponents have shot at least 33% from 3-point range, and only four have made 10 or more threes in a game against GU.
– Braden Huff (58.5 percent) and Graham Ike (58.2 percent) is first and second in the WCC in field goal percentage.
– Mark Few was recently named a first-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

SCOUT THE BEAVERS
– Oregon State is 10-1 at home this season, outscoring opponents inside Gill Coliseum by an average of 80.2-58.5.
– The Beavers are coming off a 91-55 road win at Pacific Saturday. Parsa Fallah led the Beavers with 25 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the floor and 13-for-14 shooting from the stripe. Michael Rataj put up 15 points and nine rebounds. Nate Kingz scored 20 points, while Liutauras Lelevicius had 15 points. Damarco Minor finished with seven assists and no turnovers. As a team, the Beavers went 31-for-32 from the stripe, setting a program record for free throw percentage in a game with 30 or more attempts. Oregon State shot 56.5 percent from the floor.
– Rataj is averaging 16.6 points (3rd in WCC) and 8.5 rebounds (2nd in WCC) per game. match. He is ninth in the conference and shooting 48.3 percent from the field. The junior leads the league with 2.1 steals per game.
– Fallah and Kingz bring in 12.3 and 11.4 points per game.
– Minor hands out a team-best 5.4 assists per game. competition.

SERIES INFO
– This is the 28th all-time meeting between Gonzaga and Oregon State. The Beavers hold a 25-2 advantage in the series.
– The Pacific Northwest programs separated by 437 miles have not met since a 74-65 OSU win in Corvallis on
January 7, 1991.
– The schools first met on February 20, 1911, a 13-11 Bulldog victory in Spokane.
– Oregon State has won the last 12 matchups dating back to a 27-24 GU win in 1932.
– The Beavers have won eight of the nine all-time meetings in Spokane, and all 13 in Corvallis.

UP NEXT
– The 103rd meeting between Gonzaga and Santa Clara. GU owns a 71-31 advantage in the series.
– GU has won 50 of the last 53 against the Broncos.
– The Zags are 47-5 against SCU under Mark Few.
– The Bulldogs are 36-6 all-time in Spokane in the series, and have won 16 straight at home against the Broncos. Santa Clara’s last win in Spokane was on February 12, 2007, 84-73.
– In last season’s meeting in Spokane, Graham Ike had a season-high 26 points in Gonzaga’s 94-81 win over Santa Clara on February 24, 2024. Ike added seven rebounds. Nolan Hickman scored 20 points and added five assists. Ryan Nembhardt finished with 17 points while adding six rebounds and six assists. GU took the lead with 4:13 left in the first half and did not relinquish it.
– Gonzaga is 26-24 all-time at Santa Clara, but has won 22 of their last 24 at SCU.
– Santa Clara won the first all-time meeting between the programs, 67-62, at Santa Clara on February 3, 1959.

BULLDOG BALANCE
– Gonzaga and no. 1 Auburn is the only two programs in the country with six players who have appeared in at least 10 games averaging double-digit scoring.
– Five different Zags have been leading scorers 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 figures five times, four players seven times and three players five times.
– Four Zags have scored 20 points in a game this season, and eight have multiple 20-point games in their careers.

SABONIS’S NO. 11 COLLECTION OF THE GREATS
– Three-time NBA All-Star Domantas Sabonis will be honored by Gonzaga Athletics on Jan. 18 during a ceremony at GU’s game against Santa Clara.
– Sabonis, who will become the sixth player in men’s program history to have his jersey displayed at the McCarthey Athletic Center, will be on hand for the ceremony. He will join Frank Burgess, John Stockton, Adam Morrison, Kelly Olynyk and Dan Dickau among those with their jersey numbers hanging in the McCarthey Athletic Center.
– Sabonis remains Gonzaga’s all-time leader in career field goal percentage at .632. In just two seasons, he scored 1,002 points to become the 41st player in school history to score 1,000 points. He also grabbed 694 rebounds, which is 11th all-time at GU.

GOLDEN GRAHAM
– Graham Ike is fourth in the West Coast Conference in scoring in league games (17.6), second in rebounding (9.4) and third in field goal percentage (58.5).
– Ike had a career-high 19 rebounds in the win 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 Fewand the most since Domantas Sabonis’ 20 at Pacific in 2016. Josh Heytvelt had 22 at Pepperdine in 2007.
– Ike’s 19 rebounds were the second most by a player in the West Coast Conference this season. San Diego’s Sam Trouet had 20 against UC-San Diego on Dec. 21.
– That matched the third-most by a WCC player since 2020-21, and the sixth-most in the past 10 seasons.
– Ike’s 13 low free throws were one shy of tying the McCarthey Athletic Center record for most marks in a single game. He finished 13-of-15 from the line against USD.