Key matchup: Gonzaga’s Ryan Nembhard, Saint Mary’s Augustas Marciulionis a clash of styles

MORAGA, Calif. – It’s more like key matchups rather than one key matchup when it comes to Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s.

It doesn’t get much better than posts Gonzaga’s Graham Ike and Mitchell Saxen dishing out bruises. Or GU’s Ben Gregg facing Arizona transfer Paulius Murauskas, who has nine double-doubles.

Perhaps not at the forefront but just as important: Nolan Hickman, hot lately from behind the 3-point line, matching up against sophomore Jordan Ross, who supplies Saint Mary’s with several of the same things Hickman does for the Zags.

All worthy candidates, but the nod here goes to the two best point guards in the West Coast Conference: Gonzaga assists machine Ryan Nembhard and Saint Mary’s counterpart Augustas Marciulionis, the reigning WCC Player of the Year and conference tournament most outstanding player.

The two standouts go about it in different ways. The 6-foot, 180-pound Nembhard directs one of the top offenses in the country, excelling in transition and the half-court.

Nembhard, at his nation-leading rate of 9.9 assists per game, would break the school’s single-season record he set last year (243) in three games. The Ontario native, who played two seasons at Creighton before transferring to Gonzaga, is No. 1 in NCAA Division I career assists by a Canadian with 755, passing Marcus Carr’s 747 with nine assists in Tuesday’s win over Oregon State. His older brother Andrew, a former standout point guard at Gonzaga, is third at 691.

Nembhard’s 4.52 assist-to-turnover ratio is No. 2 nationally and his 37.7% 3-point accuracy is the highest of his career. The senior averages 11 points per game, a career low, because he’s attempting at least 1.5 fewer shots per game than his first three seasons.

Nembhard has scored just eight points on seven shot attempts in the past two games, but Gonzaga put up 105 and 98 points, respectively, against Portland and Oregon State. He finished with 23 assists and only two turnovers in those two wins.

Marciulionis pilots a Saint Mary’s offense that is efficient but usually operates at a slower pace. He has scored at least 22 points in four games and has a pair of 11-assist outings. He’s hit a career-best 36% on 3s and his 13.6 scoring average is well ahead of last year’s 12.4.

The 6-4, 200-pound senior is 38th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.66). Teammate Jordan Ross (3.14) is 19th nationally. Marciulionis is also a high-level defender.

Nembhard averaged 17 points on 52.4% shooting, 7.3 assists and 2.7 turnovers while playing all 40 minutes in every game as the Zags went 1-2 against the Gaels last season. Marciulionis averaged 11.3 points, 50% shooting, 5.7 assists, 1.7 turnovers and 38.7 minutes in those three games.

The point guard who gets his team’s offense into a comfort zone and keeps it there the longest will likely come out on top in this showdown of the WCC’s perennial powers.

Nembhard and Marciulionis might end up guarding each other, but there’s also a chance of cross-matching. Hickman could be assigned to Marciulionis and vice versa and the same goes for Nembhard and Ross.