No. 1 Gonzaga hoping to maintain defensive excellence against struggling Pepperdine

MALIBU, Calif. – After Wednesday’s game at Pepperdine, Gonzaga’s final three regular-season tests include a home finale against surging Santa Clara on Senior Night and a pair of tricky road challenges against San Francisco and Saint Mary’s, teams that appear best equipped to hand the Bulldogs their first West Coast Conference loss since February 2020.

Gonzaga will encounter more high-pressure situations in Las Vegas at the West Coast Conference Tournament and those will amplify when the Bulldogs enter the NCAA Tournament, potentially as a top overall seed for the second consecutive year.

As far as GU’s remaining games are concerned, Wednesday’s contest in Malibu could shape up to be the least compelling for any number of reasons. At No. 284, Pepperdine (7-20, 1-11) carries the lowest NET rating of any team No. 1 Gonzaga (21-2, 10-0) should see the rest of the way. Regardless of the outcome, the Bulldogs can’t mathematically clinch an outright WCC regular-season title at Firestone Fieldhouse .

Fortunately, Mark Few hasn’t had to drill his team on guarding against complacency in 2021-22. Gonzaga enters the Pepperdine game having won 14 consecutive games by double figures and the Bulldogs haven’t trailed in the second half of a game since their Dec. 4 loss to Alabama.

“They’re a well-coached team, they have some good players and you’ve got to bring it against everyone in this conference,” junior forward Drew Timme said of Pepperdine. “Our conference is filled with old, experienced teams and if you don’t bring your ‘A’ game, anyone can beat you on any given night. They’re not going to lay down to us even though the first game, we kind of took care of business.”

The Zags were historically good on offense when Pepperdine visited the Kennel on Jan. 8. GU’s 117-83 victory was a part of a three-game stretch that saw the Bulldogs average 114 points. Gonzaga’s offense has tapered slightly since then, but the Bulldogs have made substantial growth on the opposite end of the floor.

Gonzaga allowed 83.3 points per game through its first three conference games against Pepperdine, BYU and Santa Clara, but the Bulldogs have held WCC opponents to 59.5 ppg in the seven WCC games since. BYU, Pacific and Saint Mary’s averaged just 55.3 ppg against Gonzaga over the past three games.

“What we’ve been doing, we’ve put together four or five really, really good defensive efforts here,” Few said after Saturday’s 74-58 win over Saint Mary’s. “Our defense has kind of been able to travel on the road this year. Hopefully, we’ll be able to play good on the offensive end like we have most of the time this year.”

The improved defensive numbers can be traced to GU’s stingy play on the perimeter. Each of the Bulldogs’ first three WCC opponents shot better than 30% from the 3-point line, with Pepperdine knocking down 37% of its 3s and BYU hitting 44%. Only one of Gonzaga’s past six WCC foes has connected on at least 30% of its 3s and two of them have been held below 20%.

Defensive rebounding is another area the Zags have pinpointed. After eight straight opponents collected at least 10 offensive rebounds, Gonzaga’s last four foes grabbed just 28 combined. Saint Mary’s matched a season low with only two offensive boards last Saturday.

Pepperdine’s offense has been inconsistent since the Waves scored 83 points at Gonzaga – a total they’ve only exceeded one other time – last Saturday against BYU.

“I remember when we played them up here, I thought that’s a very talented team,” Few said. “Physically talented. You look at their players.”

Two in particular stand out when scouting the Waves.

Guard Houston Mallette is coming off a career-high 31-point performance against the Cougars, becoming the first Pepperdine freshman in 13 years to reach the 30-point mark. Mallette, who scored 21 points in the first meeting with Gonzaga, is averaging a team-best 13.8 ppg in WCC play.

Veteran forward Jan Zidek scored 20 points against BYU and averages 13.0 ppg to go with 3.9 rebounds.

“It’s for sure going to be a dogfight and we’re looking forward to that,” Timme said. “We need to go in there and punch them before they hit us and then I think the rest will take care of itself, if we stick to what we do best.”