MBB | Saint Mary's Faces No. 1 Zags Tomorrow

MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's will face one of their toughest challenges of the season as they take on top-ranked Gonzaga tomorrow in The Kennel. The game will be broadcasted nationally on ESPN and tips off at 6 p.m.

GAME INFORMATION
Game 18 vs. No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs
Date/Time: Thursday, Feb. 18 at 6:00 p.m. PT
Location: McCarthey Athletic Center (Spokane, Wash.)
Live Stream: ESPN (Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas)
Radio: TuneIn (Alex Jensen)
WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS
Gaels' all-time head to head record: 31-73 (Last meeting: 1/16/21, H, SMC 59 — #1 GU 73)

ABOUT THE ZAGS
No. 1 Gonzaga is one of the last few unbeaten teams this season at 20-0 and 11-0 in conference play. The Zags are coming off a 39-point win over San Francisco and after playing the Gaels will have just one game remaining on their schedule (vs. San Diego, Feb. 20).

The Zags have a pair of players averaging over 19 points per game this year in Drew Timme and Corey Kispert. Timme is also the team's leading rebounder at 7.3 boards per game while Kispert is shooting 48 percent from beyond the arc. Jalen Suggs is also one of the nation's top freshman and is averaging over 14 points and four assists per contest. As a team, GU is second in the country in points per game at 93.1.

The Gaels and Zags met earlier this season in Moraga and Saint Mary's put GU in the largest hole they had faced all season. More than halfway through the first half, SMC was up by 10 on Gonzaga, 22-12, before the Zags chipped away the lead.

NEW STANDINGS ANNOUNCED
The WCC announced a new standings model on Feb. 16 to determine conference tournament ranking. The system was developed with Ken Pomeroy (founder of KenPom.com) and is being used to account for the scheduling imbalance caused by the pandemic. Despite their 2-4 record, SMC is ranked fourth in the standings behind Gonzaga, BYU, and Pepperdine, respectively.

You can read more about the updated conference standings here.

DUCAS RETURNS
The Gaels received a huge lift by getting Alex Ducas back from injury in their last contest versus Pepperdine. The sophomore had been out since Dec. 19 with an ankle sprain and missed the team's previous meeting with the Zags. He played in 20 minutes off the bench against the Waves. Prior to his injury, Ducas was averaging nearly 11 points and over 25 minutes per game.

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Players Mentioned

#44 Alex Ducas: G/F; 6' 6"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#44 Alex Ducas
: 6' 6"; Sophomore
: G/F

Players Mentioned

#44 Alex Ducas

Players Mentioned

#44 Alex Ducas