No. 1 Gonzaga (15-0, 6-0) vs. San Diego (2-6, 1-3)
Jenny Craig Pavilion, San Diego; Thursday, 9 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: No. 1 Gonzaga looks for its 13th straight win in the head-to-head series over San Diego. Gonzaga has won by an average of 26 points in its last 12 wins over the Toreros. San Diego’s last win in the series came on Feb. 22, 2014, a 69-66 win.
SAVVY VETERANS: Senior leadership could play a big role in the outcome of this game. Josh Parrish, Vladimir Pinchuk, Joey Calcaterra and Jared Rodriguez have collectively accounted for 56 percent of San Diego’s scoring this year including 49 percent of the team’s points over its last five games. For Gonzaga, Corey Kispert, Drew Timme and Joel Ayayi have scored 55 percent of the team’s points this season, including 60 percent of all Bulldogs points over their last five.
WCC IMPROVEMENT: The Toreros have scored 68 points per game and allowed 70.3 points per game in conference play thus far. Those are both substantial improvements over the 96.2 points scored and 77 points allowed per game to non-conference opponents.CLUTCH COREY: Kispert has connected on 49 percent of the 96 3-pointers he’s attempted and has gone 12 for 23 over his last three games. He’s also made 89.4 percent of his free throws this season.
WINLESS WHEN: San Diego is 0-5 this year when it scores 69 points or fewer and 2-1 when it scores at least 70.
ASSIST RATIOS: The Toreros have recently gotten buckets via assists more often than the Bulldogs. San Diego has 43 assists on 82 field goals (52.4 percent) across its previous three outings while Gonzaga has assists on 43 of 93 field goals (46.2 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: The Gonzaga offense has scored 94.4 points per game this season, ranking the Bulldogs first among Division I teams. The San Diego defense has allowed 73.6 points per game to opponents (ranked 221st overall).
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