Mondays are usually pretty slow around college basketball, but that’s not the case, with the marquee matchup featuring No. 4 Gonzaga visiting unranked San Diego State.
They will both be Pac-12 members starting in July 2026. The Zags are double-digit favorites on the NCAAB odds in Week 2.
| Opening NCAAB Lines Subject to Change: Gonzaga -11.5 (total 150.5) Expert Prediction: Gonzaga 75, San Diego State 70 |
Gonzaga Bulldogs NCAAB Line -714
No. 4 Gonzaga (3-0) comes off a 113-54 wipeout of UMass Lowell on Friday. The Zags jumped to a 21-7 lead with the help of an 11-0 run in the first five minutes. Nolan Hickman and Khalif Battle combined for 22 first-half points, and Gonzaga went into halftime ahead 49-27. Battle made a pair of 3-pointers on Gonzaga’s first two possessions after the break. The Zags expanded their lead up to 40 points before the midway point of the half. Gonzaga had 16 steals and seven blocks, and scored 32 points off turnovers.
Khalif Battle
Battle led the Zags with 21 points, including 4 for 4 on 3-point attempts. Hickman added 14 points and shot 4 for 5 from 3-point range for the Zags, who are undefeated after three games for the first time since the 2021-22 season. Braden Huff and Ryan Nembhard had 13 apiece, and Dusty Stromer and Graham Ike each had 11.
Ryan Nembhard
Nembhard’s 10 assists per game is second in the nation, after dishing out 30 assists to just two turnovers through the first three games. The senior’s last turnover was at the 12:05 mark of the second half in the season-opener versus Baylor. His 15.00 assist-to-turnover ratio is second in the country. GU is sixth as a team, averages 22.3 assists per outing and seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.39.
Gonzaga's Ryan Nembhard now has 30 assists and only TWO turnovers this season. Next level ball security. Bulldogs are 3-0 and will next travel to San Diego State on Monday.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) November 16, 2024
The Stats
Gonzaga’s 302 points matches the second-most through the first three games of the season. The 2019–20 Zags also had 302 points in their first three games. The 2018-19 GU team had 318 points in wins over Idaho State, Texas Southern, and Texas A&M. They had 402 through four games. The Bulldogs have scored 302 points in 224 possessions. Seven players are averaging at least 8.0 points per game.
The Zags’ bench is averaging 42 points per game, which leads the West Coast Conference and is 17th in the nation. Last season’s NCAA Div. 1 leader in bench points, Cornell, averaged 36.03 per game. The Zags averaged 19.1 bench points per game last season.
The Last season
In 2023 the Bulldogs advanced to their ninth straight Sweet 16, the longest active streak in the nation, and finished with a 27-8 record. Gonzaga finished No. 15 in the final AP Poll. Of the 12 possible players that could come back from last season, 10 return for the 2024-25 campaign, including four starters. The Bulldogs welcome back 81 percent of last season’s scoring, along with 71 percent of their rebounding. The Zags bring back six of its top seven scorers, along with 81.4 percent of the minutes played. Only four other programs in the country bring back a higher percentage of minutes played.
2024 Season
This is Gonzaga’s first true road game of the season, and it has won eight such games, the second-longest streak in the nation behind nine from rival Saint Mary’s. Mark Few boasts the best winning percentage among active coaches at 83.4 percent, which is the best in 83.4 NCAA Div. 1 all-time with a minimum of 10 seasons.
^San Diego State Aztecs NCAAB Line +478
San Diego State (2-0) has played a very easy schedule so far and is off a 100-49 rout of lower-level school Occidental on Nov. 12. Magoon Gwath, Wayne McKinney III and BJ Davis matched each other with a game-high 16 points. Davis added a career high five steals, while Gwath recorded a career high four blocks. Those were the most blocks by an Aztec freshman since at least 1996-97. Taj DeGourville filled the stat sheet with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Nick Boyd added 10 points as the final SDSU player to reach double-digits.
The Stats
It was the first 100-point game for the Aztecs since a 100-97 overtime victory on Nov. 19, 2023 over Washington. It is the first time they have hit the century mark in four quarters of regulation since Nov. 14, 2018, when they defeated Texas Southern 103-64 at the Maui Invitational. San Diego State connected 18 three-pointers (18-of-40), one shy of the program record for most three-pointers in a game (19, vs. Occidental College on Dec. 2, 2022).
Make it a dozen #GoAztecs pic.twitter.com/33Dm7wNKcm
— San Diego State Men's Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) November 13, 2024
San Diego State is now 102-7 in the Brian Dutcher era when it limits its opponent to 60 or fewer points. Overall, the Aztecs have won 29 straight when holding the opposition to 60 points or fewer and when it’s done on Steve Fisher Court, in the same time frame, SDSU is 62-1.
Against Non-conference Opponent
Before the first two games this season, the last time San Diego State held a non-conference opponent to shooting .350 or worse and lost was December 18, 2015, a span of 35 straight wins, 29 of which have come since Dutcher ascended to the top chair prior to the 2017-18 campaign.
The Aztecs, since the start of the Fisher/Dutcher era, have held a non-conference opponent to 35.0 percent shooting or less from the field 91 times and in those games the Aztecs are 87-4. Before the first two games this season, the last time San Diego State held a non-conference opponent to shooting .350 or worse and lost was December 18, 2015, a span of 35 straight wins, 29 of which have come since Dutcher ascended to the top chair prior to the 2017-18 campaign.
The Record
In non-conference home games since the start of the 2009-10 season, the Aztecs have a 100-10 record and are 34-2 in the last 36 non-conference home contests. Via KenPom, SDSU is rated 1st in 2-point percentage defense (26.8), 5th in block percentage (22.9), 16th in adjusted defensive efficiency (93.9), and 32nd in effective field goal percentage defense (41.0).
Under Dutcher, San Diego State is 2-0 against the Zags, have defeated them both at Gonzaga and at Viejas Arena, and the winning margin in those games has been by an average of 6.0 points per game.
^How to Bet Gonzaga at San Diego State Odds NCAA Basketball
When: Monday, 10 PM ET
Where: Viejas Arena
TV: CBS Sports Network
Stream: Paramount+
Gonzaga vs San Diego State Series History
Last year, Gonzaga was an 8-point home favorite and ranked 13th when it hosted unranked San Diego State, which won 84-74. Reese Waters scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half, and Jaedon LeDee added 20 points. Waters is the only starter back for SDSU from last year’s team but is out injured and won’t play until January. Graham Ike led Gonzaga with 20 points and 10 rebounds. It was the Zags’ first double-digit home loss since falling to Illinois 85-74 in December 2012. San Diego State leads the all-time series 3-2.
^🏆 Weekly Awards from @TheAndyKatz 🏆
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) November 18, 2024
Team of the Week: Kentucky
Player of the Week: John Tonje pic.twitter.com/JQPbgjjxbQ
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