Loyola Marymount @ Gonzaga preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 11, 2020 ) Gonzaga 87, Loyola Marymount 62

No. 2 Gonzaga survived its first real serious challenge in almost two months when it rallied for a 83-79 West Coast Conference victory at San Francisco on Saturday. The Bulldogs now return home and put their 15-game winning streak on the line when they face Loyola Marymount on Thursday.

Gonzaga trailed by as many as 12 points midway through the first half against the Dons and needed a pair of free throws by Admon Gilder with three seconds left to clinch the tough road victory. It was the Zags' toughest challenge since withstanding a late 15-2 run by Arizona on Dec. 14 in Tucson when the Wildcats closed to within two, 82-80, before guard Ryan Woolridge sealed a 84-80 win with a pair of free throws with 1.7 seconds left. With two matchups with rival Saint Mary's and a road date at BYU still on the horizon, the Zags, with an eye toward the NCAA Tournament, welcomed facing the major test put forth by San Francisco. "That's kind of the prototypical team that you're going to see in the first couple of games in March -- bigs that can shoot it and guards that are really quick and athletic and can (isolate) you," Gonzaga wing Corey Kispert told the Spokane Spokesman-Review. "Those are the games we have to play in, we have to know who to go to at the end of games, who can make free throws. Pretty cool environment in (War Memorial Gym), so lots of fun."

TIME: 11 p.m. ET. TV: CBS Sports Network

ABOUT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT (8-15, 2-7 WCC): The eighth-place Lions bring a three-game losing streak into the contest after falling to rival Pepperdine, 68-67 in overtime last Saturday as guard Eli Scott missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer as time expired. Scott scored 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting to go with five rebounds and three assists, and forward Ivan Alipiev added 11 points in a 87-62 loss to Gonzaga in the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 11 in Los Angeles. Scott leads the team in scoring (15.7 points per game), rebounds (6.7) and assists (4.7) and is the only player averaging in double figures.

ABOUT GONZAGA (23-1, 9-0): The Zags are the lone team in the nation to have six players with double-digit scoring averages, led by 6-11 sophomore forward Filip Petrusev (17.0) who also leads the team in rebounds (7.8). Kispert, who is shooting 43.5 percent from 3-point range, is second in scoring (14.1) followed by 6-10 forward Killian Tillie (12.6) who sat out the win at San Francisco after suffering a sprained left ankle two nights earlier in a 87-72 win at Santa Clara. Guards Joel Ayayi (11.2), Gilder (10.9) and Woolridge (10.3), who has connected on 27-of-59 3-pointers (45.8 percent), also are averaging in double figures for the Bulldogs who lead the nation in scoring (88.6) and scoring margin (21.5).

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Gonzaga is 43-3 against Loyola Marymount under head coach Mark Few and has won the last 22 in a row. The Lions last win in the series came on Feb, 18, 2010, 74-66, in Los Angeles.

2. The Zags' 36 straight regular-season conference wins is the longest in the nation and also broke the previous WCC record of 32 in a row set by Pepperdine in 1991-93.

3. Petrusev was named the WCC Player of the Week on Monday after scoring a total of 54 points and grabbing 20 rebounds in the road wins at Santa Clara and San Francisco.

PREDICTION: Gonzaga 94, Loyola Marymount 67