Saint Mary's @ Gonzaga preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 8, 2020 ) Gonzaga 90, St. Mary's 60

Fourth-ranked Gonzaga looks to finish the regular season on a strong note when it hosts Saint Mary's in West Coast Conference play on Saturday. The Bulldogs clinched the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming WCC tourney when it rolled to a 94-59 home victory over San Diego on Thursday.

Gonzaga was reeling after falling 91-78 at BYU on Feb. 22 to see its 19-game winning streak end but bounced back strong while routing the Toreros. "In the second half our defensive intensity was really, really good," Bulldogs coach Mark Few told reporters, aware his squad outscored San Diego by 23 points in the half. "And we were pretty darn efficient on the offensive end." Gonzaga typically receives a fight from Saint Mary's but the first battle was one-sided as the Bulldogs rolled to a 90-60 road triumph on Feb. 8. The Gaels have since bounced back with four consecutive victories, including Thursday's 78-72 road win over Santa Clara.

TIME: 10 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN2

ABOUT SAINT MARY'S (24-6, 11-4 WCC): Senior point guard Jordan Ford poured in 33 points in the win over Santa Clara for his fifth 30-point effort of the season while increasing his scoring average to 20.9. Ford connected on 12-of-19 field-goal attempts in his latest strong performance and he also scored 23 points in the loss to the Bulldogs earlier this month. Junior power forward Malik Fitts also is playing well with averages of 17 points and a team-best 7.2 rebounds for a squad that is 6-2 on the road this season.

ABOUT GONZAGA (28-2, 14-1): The Bulldogs shot 67.9 percent from the field in the recent shellacking of Saint Mary's with freshman forward Drew Timme leading the way with 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Sophomore power forward Filip Petrusev had 18 points and 11 rebounds in the contest and he also stood out against San Diego with 21 points and nine rebounds while he boasted team-best season averages of 17.5 points and 7.8 rebounds. Senior forward Killian Tillie (13.6) appears to be making progress from a lingering ankle injury and is averaging 17.8 points over his past four appearances.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Gonzaga has won 16 of the past 20 meetings.

2. Ford has drained a team-best 74 3-pointers for the Gaels, who are making 40.4 percent of their shots from behind the arc.

3. Bulldogs junior SF Corey Kispert was 2-of-5 from 3-point range versus San Diego after being just 1-of-10 against BYU.

PREDICTION: Gonzaga 84, Saint Mary's 64