Ryan Nembhard breaks Gonzaga's single-season assist record vs. Pacific

Bulldogs senior guard broke the program's record for most assists in a season during Saturday's game against Pacific

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Ryan Nembhard (0) dribbles against Pacific Tigers forward Elias Ralph (center left). | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Ryan Nembhard didn't even need a full two seasons to completely rewrite the Gonzaga men's basketball team's record books with his uncanny court vision.

The 6-foot-tall senior point guard from Ontario and younger brother of former Bulldogs guard Andrew Nembhard broke the program's record for most assists in a single season in his first year with the team, recording 243 assists across 35 appearances during the 2023-24 campaign.

Surrounded by most of the same cast of characters heading into 2024-25, Nembhard picked up right where he left off as he helmed another highly potent offense that ranks near the top of the country in efficiency, scoring and of course, assists. Heading into Saturday's matchup against Pacific, Nembhard led the nation in assists with 238 total (9.9 per game, also No. 1), bringing his total up with the Zags to 481, already good enough for seventh-most in a Gonzaga career.

Nembhard, who's the only Zag to have multiple 200-assist seasons in a career, made more history against the Tigers with his sixth assist of the night, putting him at 244 on the season and back atop Gonzaga's leaderboard for most assists in a season.

Nembhard's record-breaking dime came in style after a strong defensive effort from the Zags led to an alley-oop connection between Nembhard and Khalif Battle, as the latter stuffed home a two-hand dunk to deliver Nembhard his crucial sixth assist of the night and put Gonzaga up 63-35 with 10:21 left in the second half.

Nembhard became the first player in the country to eclipse the 200-assist mark this season and the fastest to 100 assists in a season in program history. His 4.40 assist-to-turnover ratio through Gonzaga's first 24 games ranked second in the nation. At 9.9 assists per game, Nembhard's on pace to set the WCC record for the highest assist average in a season, set by San Francisco's Orlando Smart in 1991 (9.2 per game).

Nembhard entered the Pacific game just shy of averaging a double-double for the season with 11.2 points and 9.9 assists per game. He's recorded 10 double-doubles this season, which is ranks 12th in the country.

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