Saint Mary’s Gaels (19-3, 8-1 WCC) at Gonzaga Bulldogs (21-1, 9-0 WCC)
Spokane, Washington; Saturday, 10:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Saint Mary’s (CA) visits No. 6 Gonzaga after Paulius Murauskas scored 24 points in Saint Mary’s (CA)’s 75-69 win over the Portland Pilots.
The Bulldogs are 10-0 in home games. Gonzaga leads the WCC in rebounding, averaging 38.2 boards. Graham Ike leads the Bulldogs with 8.8 rebounds.
The Gaels have gone 8-1 against WCC opponents. Saint Mary’s (CA) is 0-1 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
Gonzaga’s average of 7.0 made 3-pointers per game this season is only 0.8 more made shots on average than the 6.2 per game Saint Mary’s (CA) gives up. Saint Mary’s (CA) averages 12.1 more points per game (78.6) than Gonzaga allows to opponents (66.5).
The matchup Saturday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.
TOP PERFORMERS: Ike is shooting 55.5% and averaging 18.1 points for the Bulldogs. Tyon Grant-Foster is averaging 12.4 points over the last 10 games.
Murauskas is shooting 48.6% and averaging 19.3 points for the Gaels. Joshua Dent is averaging 12.9 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bulldogs: 10-0, averaging 84.6 points, 36.9 rebounds, 16.6 assists, 9.3 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 50.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.8 points per game.
Gaels: 9-1, averaging 76.4 points, 35.0 rebounds, 16.1 assists, 5.3 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 46.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.1 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.