Gonzaga Offense Primed For Big Game Against Struggling Pacific Tigers Team

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Andy Patton | Last updated Feb 8, 2025 2:05 PM ET

The Gonzaga Bulldogs face the Pacific Tigers in Stockton, CA on Saturday, their lone matchup against new coach Dave Smart's team this season.

Both Gonzaga and Pacific are coming off wins on Thursday, with the Zags using a 28-7 run in the final 10 minutes to down LMU, while the Tigers secured their third WCC win by beating San Diego 71-69.

Gonzaga has a big home matchup next Thursday against San Francisco, who currently holds a half game lead over the Zags for second place in the WCC, but the last thing they can afford to do is get too far ahead of themselves.

Fortunately for the Zags, this Pacific team really struggles on both sides of the basketball. After returning just 3.4% of their minutes from last year, Pacific is in the midst of a multiyear rebuild - and it shows.

The Tigers are shooting 29.6% from three and have an eFG% of 47.7%, with rank 337th and 299th in the country per KenPom, respectively. On the other end of the floor, Pacific allows opponents to shoot 37.5% from three with an eFG% of 53.8% - marks that rank 345th and 302nd.

For Gonzaga, finding the lost three point shot will be critical to going into next week's game against the Dons with some confidence.

The Zags made nine or more threes in six out of seven games before shooting an abysmal 3-17 against Saint Mary's and 2-18 against LMU.

Additionally, Pacific turns the ball over at an extremely high clip, and if Gonzaga can bring that aggressive, physical defense from the LMU game down to Stockton this could be a game that is decided early, which could allow Ryan Nembhard to get some much needed rest - once he racks up six assists to break his own school record set last year.

The game tips off at 5:00 PM PT and will be on ESPN+.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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