The Gonzaga men’s basketball team has been here before.

A year ago at this time the Zags were 18-6 and a question mark to even make the NCAA tournament. Gonzaga finished strong, winning its final seven West Coast Conference games before losing to Saint Mary’s in the WCC Tournament championship game.

The Bulldogs were rewarded with a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament and went on to reach their ninth consecutive Sweet 16.

A similar path is emerging this season as Gonzaga (19-7, 10-3) prepares for the stretch run of its 2024-25 campaign. The Zags have won three in a row entering Saturday night’s matchup with Pepperdine and appear to be peaking at the right time.

Coming off an 88-77 win over San Francisco, the Bulldogs are 25.5-point favorites over the Waves. Follow the game here with live updates, big-play highlights and in-game analysis.

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Second half live updates

Gonzaga 62, Pepperdine 33, 17:00 left: Khalif Battle throws down another dunk on a transition lob, and The Kennel erupts. Battle has 19 points in 17 minutes.

First half live updates

Gonzaga 55, Pepperdine 26, halftime: The Bulldogs are putting up historic numbers against the Waves. Nine Gonzaga players have scored and the Zags have 25 field goals on 19 assists. Ryan Nembhard has 10 assists and Khalif Battle leads all scorers with 14 points.

Gonzaga 42, Pepperdine 20, 3:58 left: The Bulldogs are playing one of their most efficient offensive games of the season. They’re 19-of-34 from the field and have 16 assists.

Gonzaga 38, Pepperdine 13, 8:30 left: Emmanuel Innocenti hits a 3-pointer in transition, then gets a steal and a dunk to give the Zags a 25-point lead.

Gonzaga 25, Pepperdine 9, 13:09 left: Folks, this game might already be over. Gonzaga is playing on a completely different level tonight. The Zags are 3-of-6 from downtown and already have 16 points in the paint.

Gonzaga 14, Pepperdine 4, 15:28 left: Khalif Battle has 8 points as the Zags have jumped all over the Waves in the first four-plus minutes. Here’s a look at assist No. 800 for Nembhard.

800 assists for Nembhard: Ryan Nembhard throws a lob to Khalif Battle for his 800th career assist. He’s one of just 51 players in NCAA Division I history to reach that milestone.

Khalif Battle came to play! Battle hits two 3-pointers to open the game and Gonzaga has a quick 6-0 lead.

Gonzaga’s starting five: Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, Khalif Battle, Ben Gregg, Graham Ike.

Pregame updates

Game time is scheduled for just after 7 p.m. Stay tuned for live updates.

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