No. 7 Gonzaga will seek to defeat Pepperdine for the 50th consecutive time when they meet Sunday night in the West Coast Conference opener for both teams at Malibu, Calif.
The Bulldogs’ last loss in the series came on Jan. 18, 2002, when the Waves recorded an 88-79 home win. Gonzaga coach Mark Few is 53-2 against Pepperdine.
And the current Bulldogs (12-1) already have recorded seven victories by more than 25 points during the more difficult portion (nonconference) of their regular-season schedule.
Gonzaga’s margin of victories include 72 over Southern Utah, 55 over Texas Southern, 51 over North Florida, 39 over Maryland, 35 over then-No. 18 Kentucky, 28 over Campbell and 27 over then-No. 23 Creighton. The 122-50 win over Southern Utah is the second-largest in school history.
The best news for Pepperdine (5-8) is that Gonzaga is moving to the Pac-12 next season.
The Waves have won two of their past three overall games entering the clash.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs have won five straight games since being crushed 101-61 by then-No. 7 Michigan in the Players Era title game in Las Vegas on Nov. 26.
Gonzaga’s most recent game was one week ago Sunday when it notched a 91-82 defeat of Oregon on a neutral court in Portland.
Braeden Smith was the surprise star with a season-best 21 points off the bench to go with seven assists. He hadn’t scored more than 11 prior to the 7-of-10 shooting performance against the Ducks.
“Braeden was exceptional,” Few said afterward. “We leaned on B-Smith hard and he responded big time. He saved us and was a huge key to the game.”
Smith, a transfer from Colgate, raised his season scoring average to 5.5 with the strong effort. He has come off the bench in nine of Gonzaga’s 13 games.
“Try to stay ready,” Smith said of his approach. “Whenever I get out there, try to help the team as best as I can, make an impact. That’s kind of where my head’s been at ever since the (lineup) change and just try to continue to have that kind of mentality.”
Braden Huff had another strong game with 20 points against Oregon, marking the fifth straight time he has scored at least 20. He is averaging 24.4 points on 63.1% (53 of 84) shooting over the past five games.
Huff paces the Zags with a 19.1 scoring average. Graham Ike is second at 17.0 and leads in rebounding (8.3).
Pepperdine is coming off a solid 84-62 victory over Rice on Dec. 20.
Aaron Clark had 25 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals to lead the Waves. It marked the third time the Wake Forest transfer has scored 25 or more this season.
Javon Cooley added 15 points and made 4 of 5 shots from 3-point range. Clark also knocked down four treys as Pepperdine connected on a season-best 13 (in 24 attempts) from behind the arc.
“I was really pleased with how hard we played and that all 11 players that were in uniform played and positively contributed,” Waves coach Ed Schilling said of the victory. “Rice has several very good shooters. I thought we did a nice job on them and defending the 3-point line, holding them to 5-for-20 from three. It was a great team win.”
Clark leads a balanced Pepperdine attack with a 14.5 scoring average. Cooley averages 13.9 and shoots a sizzling 92.3% from the free-throw line.
Styles Phipps averages 12.4 points and leads the Waves in rebounds (6.4) and assists (5.5). Danilo Dozic adds 11.8 points per game.
–Field Level Media
