Gonzaga @ San Diego preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 2, 2019 ) San Diego 69, Gonzaga 85

Third-ranked Gonzaga aims to register its 16th consecutive victory when it visits San Diego in West Coast Conference play on Saturday. The Bulldogs are coming off a 73-60 road win over Loyola Marymount on Thursday and the 13-point margin matched its lowest in its 11 WCC games this season.

Gonzaga has won 29 consecutive conference road games but the sledding was tough against the Lions before a late 16-4 run helped seal the deal. "There are going to be nights where you don't make every shot," junior power forward Brandon Clarke told reporters afterward. "You just have to find a way to win and that's what we did." The Bulldogs recorded an 85-69 home win over the Toreros on Feb. 2 when junior forward Rui Hachimura scored 32 points for Gonzaga while San Diego senior forward Isaiah Pineiro matched his career best of 30 points and also collected 11 rebounds. The Toreros let a 14-point, second-half lead disappear on Thursday to suffer an 88-82 overtime loss against BYU to fall to 11-2 at home.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, ESPN

ABOUT GONZAGA (24-2, 11-0 WCC): The Bulldogs trailed by one point before their decisive run and the rare close game provided more of a test than they were expecting. "We had to dig probably deeper than we’ve had to dig in quite a while and Loyola Marymount was the cause of that,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few told reporters. “They were pushing us around a little bit and beating us to balls and they definitely were the more physical team." Hachimura scored 22 points to raise his team-leading average to 20.2 while Clarke (16.8 points, team-leading 8.2 rebounds) contributed 17 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots.

ABOUT SAN DIEGO (16-10, 5-6): Pineiro recorded 20 points and 12 rebounds against BYU for his fifth straight double-double and 11th of the season to raise his team-best averages to 19.3 points and 9.1 rebounds. Senior shooting guard Olin Carter III (16.2) matched his season best of five 3-pointers while scoring 20 points against the Cougars, and he missed the first game against Gonzaga due to an abdominal injury. Senior point guard Isaiah Wright averages 13.1 points and five assists and scored 16 points in the recent meeting against the Bulldogs.

TIP-INS

1. Gonzaga has won nine straight meetings against San Diego and 42 of the past 45.

2. Bulldogs senior PG Josh Perkins is 16 assists behind program leader Matt Santangelo (668 from 1996-2000).

3. Wright is shooting just 28.1 percent from 3-point range.

PREDICTION: Gonzaga 87, San Diego 72