Ben Gregg scored 23 points, Ryan Nembhard tied his career high in assists and the Gonzaga Bulldogs cruised to a 95-75 victory over the San Francisco Dons at the Chase Center on Saturday night.
With the win, the Zags (23-8, 14-4, WCC) clinched the No. 2 seed in the WCC Tournament that’s set to tip off next week in Las Vegas, which sets up Mark Few and company in the semifinal round and on the opposite side of the league’s reigning regular season champion, Saint Mary’s. The Dons (23-8, 13-5 WCC), meanwhile, dropped down to the No. 3 seed and will have to play in the quarterfinal round.
What started out as a back-and-forth affair quickly turned into a double-digit margin heading down the stretch of the first half, as the Bulldogs clamped down defensively while outscoring the Dons 17-6 over the final 6 minutes and change to lead by 15 at the break.
The Zags, who’d fallen victim to letting large leads slip through their grasp on a few occasions this season, didn’t give the Dons any such hope of making a second half comeback as they kept their foot on the gas behind some hot shooting from the field. Gonzaga went 18-for-31 (58.1%) from the field and knocked down six 3-pointers in the second half.
Gregg led the way with 23 points, followed by 17 from Nolan Hickman. Graham Ike chipped in 15 points while Khalif Battle added 14 points for the Bulldogs, who’ve won 32 in a row against the Dons and have now finished second or better in the WCC standings every season under Mark Few.
Marcus Williams paced San Francisco with 28 points on 11-for-15 from the field. The Dons, however, were just 3-for-18 from long range while going through lengthy ā and costly ā cold streaks.
Read our full game recap below.
SECOND HALF RECAP
Gonzaga 95, San Francisco 75 (Final): The Bulldogs secured the No. 2 spot in the WCC standings and a berth into the conference tournament semifinal round with an impressive win on the road against the Dons at the Chase Center.
Ryan Nembhard ties career-high in assists: Gonzaga’s floor general recorded his 15th assist of the night on a dish out to Graham Ike for a 3-pointer. Nembhard also had 15 assists in Tuesday’s win over Santa Clara.
Gonzaga 89, San Francisco 67 (3:51): Nolan Hickman capitalizes at the free-throw line for a 3-point play, as the senior guard is up to 17 points on the night. Gonzaga has gone 16-for-25 (64.0%) from the field so far this half.
Gonzaga 85, San Francisco 61 (5:49): Graham Ike negated Marcus Williams’ layup attempt, leading to a fastbreak opportunity for Nolan Hickman. That came moments after Khalif Battle drilled his team’s 10th 3-pointer of the night. Everything’s clicking for the Bulldogs down the stretch of their regular season finale.
Gonzaga 76, San Francisco 58 (7:39): Khalif Battle’s second 3-pointer of the night, courtesy of Emmanuel Innocenti’s hustle play on the offensive glass, pushed the Bulldogs’ lead back to 20 with under 9 minutes to play in regulation. Gonzaga has knocked down nine 3-pointers already, which is the most made 3s San Francisco has allowed since Jan. 11 against Santa Clara (also nine).
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Gonzaga 70, San Francisco 54 (9:31): Graham Ike made it a 20-point game after cleaning up the offensive glass for a putback layup, but the Dons responded as Malik Thomas made his second field goal of the night ā a tough jumper over Khalif Battle ā before Junjie Wang scored to make it a 16-point game.
Gonzaga 66, San Francisco 50 (11:50): Ryan Nembhard snuck a pass between two San Francisco defenders to a wide open Braden Huff, who connected on a soft floater in the lane to extend his team’s lead. The Dons have found more success on the offensive end of the floor thus far, though they haven’t been able to make up any ground without slowing down the Bulldogs.
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Gonzaga 60, San Francisco 42 (15:05): Ben Gregg continues to punish the Dons in the lane with a deadly accurate floater. The senior’s total is up to 20 points after he connected with Ryan Nembhard in the pick-and-roll game, resulting in another basket in the painted area for the Bulldogs’ 6-foot-10 forward.
Gonzaga 54, San Francisco 40 (16:54): Zags come out of the locker room looking to maintain control over the Dons, as Nolan Hickman and Ben Gregg each tack on 3-pointers in the first few minutes of the second half. San Francisco entered the game ranked second in the country in 3-point field goal defense ā the Bulldogs are 7-for-15 from behind the arc, though.
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ā Gonzaga Basketball (@ZagMBB) March 2, 2025
HALFTIME STATS: GONZAGA 46, SAN FRANCISCO 31
The Bulldogs clamped down defensively down the stretch of the first half, turning what was a back-and-forth affair early on into a double-digit margin at the halftime break. The Dons were held to just six points over the final 6 minutes and 46 seconds of the half, as their leading scorer, Malik Thomas, struggled to establish a rhythm.
Thomas, who entered the game averaging 19.3 points, had just two points on a 1-for-7 start from the field Saturday. Luckily for San Francisco, its other all-conference guard Marcus Williams stepped up to the plate. The 6-foot-2 senior led all players with 17 points on 7-for-9 from the field.
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ā Gonzaga Basketball (@ZagMBB) March 2, 2025
For the Zags, Ben Gregg led the attack offensively with 13 points, highlighted by a run of nine points in a row that helped shift the tide in his team’s favor late in the half.
Graham Ike added eight points, while Ryan Nembhard chipped in six points and six assists. The senior guard became the first player this season to cross the 300-assist threshold.
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ā Gonzaga Basketball (@ZagMBB) March 2, 2025
1ST HALF RECAP
Gonzaga 45, San Francisco 29 (1:15): Ryan Nembhard snaked his way through the lane and along the baseline before pulling up for a midrange jumper in a very Steve Nash-esque move that extended the Bulldogs’ lead to 16 points with about a minute left until halftime. Gonzaga has held its opponent off the scoreboard for the last 2:51 amid a 10-0 scoring run.
Gonzaga 38, San Francisco 29 (3:15): Marcus Williams has kept the Dons in the fight early on with 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting in 14 minutes of action. Ben Gregg, meanwhile, has the Zags in the driver seat after knocking down a couple of shots in the paint, followed by a 3-pointer to put his total up to a team-high 13 points.
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ā Gonzaga Basketball (@ZagMBB) March 2, 2025
Gonzaga 29, San Francisco 23 (7:22): The Dons haven’t made it easy for the Zags to find Graham Ike down low early on, though the 6-foot-9 forward was able to extend his team’s lead to double-digits before San Francisco swiftly responded moments later. Rather than defend Gonzaga’s forwards on the perimeter, San Francisco is sitting an extra defender in Ike’s area to discourage any post entries.
Gonzaga 26, San Francisco 17 (9:45): Khalif Battle knocks down a stepback midrange jumper and a transition 3-pointer to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to nine points.
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ā Gonzaga Basketball (@ZagMBB) March 2, 2025
Gonzaga 19, San Francisco 15 (11:43): Ryan Beasley cut the Dons’ deficit down to two before Ryan Nembhard drilled a 3-pointer, followed by a score down low from Braden Huff, to make it a seven-point game with just under 13 minutes left to play in the first half. Marcus Williams responded moments later after Veniamin Abosi got a layup to go inside, making it a two-point game again.
Gonzaga 11, San Francisco 6 (15:42): Ryan Nembhard fit a shovel pass into a small window for Graham Ike to snag from Marcus Williams before finishing over the top of the Dons guard for a potential 3-point play. Gonzaga’s senior guard has assisted on three of his team’s first four baskets.
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ā Gonzaga Basketball (@ZagMBB) March 2, 2025
Gonzaga 5, San Francisco 4 (18:07): Nolan Hickman capitalizes off a transition opportunity with a 3-pointer from the wing after Ryan Nembhard came away with a steal on the other end. The Dons have owned the glass early on, grabbing three offensive rebounds in the first 2 minutes of action.
San Francisco 2, Gonzaga 0 (19:23): Tyrone Riley IV puts San Francisco on the board first with a score over Ryan Nembhard in the paint.
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