No. 8 Gonzaga aims to extend historic dominance of Pepperdine

Gonzaga has defeated Pepperdine 50 consecutive times, the second-longest streak against a single opponent in Division I history.

The No. 8 Bulldogs look to further 24 years of domination when they take on Pepperdine on Wednesday night in West Coast Conference play at Spokane, Wash.

The Waves last defeated Gonzaga on Jan. 18, 2002, when they notched an 88-79 victory in Malibu, Calif. Pepperdine has dropped 25 straight games in Spokane since claiming a 65-64 victory on Feb. 19, 1998.

The longest winning streak against a single opponent is 52 by UCLA against Cal from 1961-85.

Bulldogs coach Mark Few was surprised the streak had reached 50 when informed after his club's 96-56 rout of the host Waves on Dec. 28.

Back then, Few just wanted to see a higher level of play from his Zags and that definitely has occurred. Gonzaga (19-1, 7-0 WCC) brings a 12-game winning streak into the rematch.

A victory also would give Gonzaga its 29th consecutive 20-win season. Only Kansas (37) has a longer active streak.

Gonzaga's winning ways have continued the past two games despite the loss of forward Braden Huff to a left knee injury. Huff, who averages 17.8 points and 5.6 rebounds, will miss another three to seven weeks.

On Saturday at Seattle, the Bulldogs also were without star big man Graham Ike and still registered a 71-50 victory over Seattle. Ike injured an ankle two nights earlier during an 86-65 road victory over Washington State.

Ike leads the squad with averages of 18.1 points and 8.8 rebounds.

Not having Ike or Huff wasn't a problem as freshman guard Mario Saint-Supery stepped up with a career-best 20 points off the bench.

"We were playing without two of the best bigs in the country," Saint-Supery said. "We had to change the way we're playing and we did it."

Jalen Warley (14 points) was the lone starter to score in double digits. Davis Fogle added 13 off the bench as Gonzaga's reserves totaled 45 points.

"I feel like a lot of teams could have hung their heads," Warley said. "We continued to push and we have really good chemistry that's been building since the summer."

Pepperdine halted a six-game losing streak with a 67-63 victory over Portland last Wednesday.

Aaron Clark stood out for the Waves (6-14, 1-6) with 18 points and a career-best eight rebounds. Styles Phipps added 16 points and a season-best four steals.

The Waves racked up nine steals and held Portland to 21.2% shooting (7 of 33) from 3-point range.

"I thought we played extremely hard on the defensive end and got some key stops to seal the game," Pepperdine coach Ed Schilling said. "It was a good team win."

Phipps (12.5), Javon Cooley (12.3) and Clark (12.3) each average at least 12 points per game for the Waves. Phipps also leads the team in rebounding (6.4) and assists (4.8).

Clark has a team-leading 31 steals and Phipps has 26.

Pepperdine's six-game slide began with its 40-point loss to the Zags. The Waves lost another four games by 19-plus points during that stretch.

Pepperdine is 1-6 on the road. The victory came at Cal State Bakersfield, 70-62, on Dec. 13.

Gonzaga's Tyon Grant-Foster had a game-high 18 points and four blocked shots in the late December win over the Waves.

--Field Level Media