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Gonzaga Bulldogs 78, Pacific Tigers 61: Live updates recap, highlights from WCC men's basketball game

The Zags beat the Tigers as Ryan Nembhard makes history

Cole Forsman

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Nolan Hickman.
Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Nolan Hickman. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
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Ryan Nembhard broke Gonzaga's single-season assist record as the Bulldogs took down Pacific in a 78-61 final Saturday night from the Spanos Center in Stockton, California.

Nembhard finished with seven points and eight assists, putting his season total to 246 on the season and counting. The senior guard who set the program record last season with 243 in 35 games needed 10 fewer games to break his own record. Nembhard's sixth assist of the night — an alley-oop to Khalif Battle at the 10:21 mark in the second half — put him atop the leaderboard once again, while the Bulldogs (18-7, 9-3 WCC) cruised to their second-straight win in another dominate performance defensively from Mark Few's squad.

For the fifth straight game, the Zags held their opponent to fewer than 63 points on 40% or worse shooting from the field. Pacific (8-19, 3-10 WCC), led by Lamar Washington's 22 points, was 22-of-55 (40.0%) from the field and committed 15 turnovers. Braden Huff's 17 points paced the Zags. Nembhard finished with seven points, eight assists and four rebounds.

Here is the live updates recap:

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FINAL: Gonzaga 78, Pacific 61

2ND HALF

Gonzaga 78, Pacific 59 (1:31): Joe Few gets Gonzaga's bench fired up over an and-one, as the redshirt junior records his second field goal of the season.

Gonzaga 73, Pacific 54 (3:13): Ryan Nembhard breaks Gonzaga's single-season assist record with his sixth assist of the night — an alley-oop to Khalif Battle — bringing his assist total to 244 on the season. The Bulldogs look to close out their second straight win as they lead by almost 20 with under 4 minutes to play.

Gonzaga 57, Pacific 35 (10:55): Carter Benton drills Pacific's third 3-pointer of the night off an assist from Lamar Washington. The Tigers are just 3-of-14 from long-range tonight. Washington leads the Tigers with 10 points.

Gonzaga 55, Pacific 30 (12:31): Ryan Nembhard connects from long range, extending the Bulldogs' lead to 23 with just over 12 minutes left in regulation. Gonzaga is 7-of-12 from the field to start the second half while Pacific is 4-of-10. Nolan Hickman knocked down a pair of free throws after a technical foul was called on Carter Benton, who prevented Gonzaga's guard from advancing upcourt after intercepting a pass.

Gonzaga 46, Pacific 28 (15:03): The Bulldogs extend their lead to 18 points off a post score from Graham Ike off a nice high-low pass from Ben Gregg. Gonzaga has 13 assists as a team, four of which have come from Nembhard. He needs two more to break his own record for the most assists in a single season in Gonzaga history (243).

HALFTIME: Gonzaga 35, Pacific 20: Braden Huff's nine points lead a balanced offensive attack that admittedly needed to settle in before hitting a stride near the midway point in the second half. Seth Jones knocked down a 3-pointer with just under 10 minutes left in the half before the Zags ripped off a 14-0 scoring run to go ahead by double-digits. Khalif Battle and Michael Ajayi each have seven points for the Bulldogs, while the Tigers were led by Elijah Fisher's six points. Pacific was just 8-for-29 from the field, but Gonzaga wasn't much better with a 12-for-30 showing from the field.

1ST HALF

Gonzaga 26, Pacific 14 (3:53): The Zags gained some breathing room thanks to a commanding 14-0 scoring run that kept the Tigers off the scoreboard for a 5-minute stretch, until Burke Smith snapped Pacific's drought with a 3-pointer. Moments earlier, Ryan Nembhard found Khalif Battle in transition for a 3-pointer. Gonzaga has nine fastbreak points.

Gonzaga 18, Pacific 11 (7:26): Braden Huff stuffs home a two-hand dunk over the top of Petar Krivokapic after Ryan Nembhard delivered a beautiful pass that led the 6-foot-10 redshirt sophomore right to the rim for the highlight play.

Gonzaga 12, Pacific 11 (9:53): Seth Jones knocks down a 3-pointer through contact from Michael Ajayi but couldn't complete the rare 4-point play at the free-throw line, keeping the Zags in front.

Gonzaga 10, Pacific 8 (12:00): Elijah Fisher has taken advantage of his matchups early on. The 6-foot-6 junior has four of Pacific's eight points. Gonzaga has struggled against the Tigers' swarming defense.

Gonzaga 7, Pacific 2 (15:20): The Bulldogs have played with pace out of the gate, but the shots haven't fallen consistently amid a 3-for-8 start from the field, including 1-for-5 from downtown. The Tigers haven't been able to get into a groove either, as they're 1-for-6 from the floor at the 16-minute media timeout.

Gonzaga 3, Pacific 2 (17:41): Ryan Nembhard breaks the lid off the rim for the Zags with a 3-pointer.

Pacific 2, Gonzaga 0 (18:02): Lamar Washington gets the Tigers on the board first with a nice left-handed hookshot in the lane.

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Cole Forsman
COLE FORSMAN

Cole Forsman is a reporter for Gonzaga Bulldogs On SI. Cole holds a degree in Journalism and Sports Management from Gonzaga University.

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