Pepperdine @ Gonzaga preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 21, 2019 ) Pepperdine 64, Gonzaga 92

Top-seeded Gonzaga returns to its home away from home Monday night when the No. 1-ranked Zags face No. 8 seed Pepperdine in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference tournament at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Gonzaga has won eight of the 10 WCC tournaments held at the Orleans Arena, aka Spokane South, including the last six in a row and will be trying to put the final touches on a potential overall No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament.

While Gonzaga received a double-bye into the semifinals, Pepperdine has had to win three games in three days to advance, rallying to defeat Pacific, 61-53, in the first round Thursday, edging No. 5 seed Loyola Marymount 68-65 on a late 3-pointer by Colbey Ross in Friday's second round and then surprising No. 4 seed San Francisco 89-72 in Saturday night's quarterfinals. "For three days, we've really come together and stayed together," Pepperdine coach Lorenzo Romar said. "This team believes in each other at this time of year. You can see what's going on. We still have a long way to go in the tournament. … We have a big-time opponent, as we know, the best in the country, up next. But togetherness, it breeds resiliency and courage and that's what our guys have had." It's fair to save the Waves, who have dropped 36 straight to Gonzaga, including a 92-64 road loss on Feb. 21, will need a lot more than courage and togetherness to upset the focused Zags . "It's very important we go down there and play with a sense of urgency ... and we play with a positive desperation defensively and offensively," Gonzaga coach Mark Few told the Spokane Spokesman Review.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPN

ABOUT PEPPERDINE (16-17): Ross had 26 points and nine assists in the quarterfinal win over San Francisco and leads the team in scoring (19.8) while also averaging 7.2 assists, which ranked fifth nationally entering Sunday. Junior forward Kameron Edwards, who missed the first meeting with the Zags with a foot injury, is second in scoring (14.7) and leads the team in rebounding (6.2) but has scored just 12 points to go with two rebounds in 34 minutes of action in the first three WCC Tourney games. Guard Eric Cooper Jr. (10.5) and forward Kessler Edwards (10.1) also are averaging in double digits for the Waves, who are shooting 38.2 percent from 3-point range.

ABOUT GONZAGA (29-2): The Zags won every conference game by double digits and barely worked up a sweat in the first meeting with the Waves, building a 53-33 halftime lead and the opening the second half with a 15-2 run to increase the margin to 33 points (68-35) while cruising to the easy win. Junior forward Rui Hachimura, who was named the WCC Player of the Year last week, leads the team in scoring (20.6) and had 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting to go with seven rebounds in the first meeting with the Waves while 6-8 junior forward Brandon Clarke, who ranks second on the team in scoring (16.6) while grabbing a team best 8.5 rebounds per game, finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks. Guards Zach Norvell Jr. (15.7) and Josh Perkins (11.0), who joined Hachimura and Clarke on the First Team all-WCC squad, also are averaging double figures with Perkins averaging a club-best 6.6 assists.

TIP-INS

1. Gonzaga has a 17-game win streak in the WCC tournament and has won 21 straight WCC tournament semifinal games.

2. The Zags are 40-2 against Pepperdine under Few.

3. Gonzaga led the nation in field goal percentage (53.4 percent), scoring margin (24.9), scoring offense (89.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.79).

PREDICTION: Gonzaga 94, Pepperdine 67