The San Francisco Dons dared Gonzaga Bulldogs point guard Ryan Nembhard to shoot the ball on Thursday night.

Nembhard, the nation’s leader in assists at 9.8 per game, responded with 18 points to lead Gonzaga to an 88-77 win at McCarthey Athletic Center. Nembhard tied his season high with 15 shot attempts, and he still managed to dish out 12 assists.

Graham Ike added 18 points and 13 rebounds for Gonzaga (19-7, 10-3), while Michael Ajayi racked up 12 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

Malik Thomas led San Francisco (20-7, 10-4) with 26 points.

Gonzaga is now in sole possession of second place in the West Coast Conference with five games to play.

Read our full game recap below, including in-game analysis and big-play highlights.

Second half recap

Gonzaga 88, USF 77, final: The Zags outscore San Francisco 50-39 in the second half to move into sole possession of second place in the West Coast Conference.

Gonzaga 81, USF 72, 1:51 left in game: Ryan Nembhard hit another pull-up from 15 feet to give Gonzaga a nine-point cushion with under 2 minutes to play. Timeout USF. Nembhard has tied his season-high in shot attempts with 15 and has 18 points and 12 assists.

Gonzaga 76, USF 67, 3:42 left in game: The Dons are hanging around behind the play of Malik Thomas, who has a game-high 24 points. After scoring just 4 points in the first half, Graham Ike has come alive in the second half with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Gonzaga 71, USF 58, 6:45 left in game: Michael Ajayi is having one of his most efficient games of the season with 11 points and 9 rebounds off the bench. Ryan Nembhard has another double-double with 16 points and 10 assists.

32-14 Gonzaga run: The Zags trailed 36-30 with 3:30 left in the first half. Since that point they have outscored USF 32-14 and now lead 62-50 with 10:55 to play.

Gonzaga 60, USF 48, 11:23 left in game: USF is daring Ryan Nembhard to shoot the ball — and he’s lighting them up. Nembhard has 16 points and 5 assists on 7-of-13 shooting. It’s already the most shots Nembhard has taken since way back on Dec. 30 vs. Pepperdine.

Gonzaga 48, USF 42, 17:30 left in game: Gonzaga starts the second half on a 10-4 run led by a fired-up Graham Ike, who now has 11 points and 8 rebounds.

Gonzaga foul trouble: Khalif Battle picks up his third foul just 51 seconds into the second half, then Ben Gregg picks up his third a minute later. Mark Few elects to leave both players in the game.

Halftime stats: Gonzaga 38, USF 38

Ryan Nembhard leads Gonzaga with 10 points and 4 assists, and he’s 2-of-3 from the 3-point line. Ben Gregg has 8 points and Michael Ajayi has 7 points and 6 rebounds off the bench. Graham Ike has 4 points (2-of-6 shooting), 7 rebounds and 4 turnovers.

The Zags have to get something out of Nolan Hickman and Khalif Battle. Their starting wings have combined for 3 points on 1-of-5 shooting.

Malik Thomas leads USF with 13 points, and Tyrone Riley has 9 points and 5 rebounds. The Dons are 5-of-14 from the 3-point line.

First half recap

Gonzaga 38, USF 38, halftime: Michael Ajayi tips in a Ryan Nembhard miss at the buzzer to make it 38-all at halftime.

USF 36, Gonzaga 30, 3:21 left in 1st half: The Dons are 5-of-13 from the 3-point line, which has been the difference so far. Gonzaga is 2-of-4. Ryan Nembhard leads Gonzaga with 10 points and Malik Thomas leads USF with 13.

USF 25, Gonzaga 25, 6:20 left in 1st half: Graham Ike, Ben Gregg and Braden Huff have combined for 15 points to give the Zags a boost in the paint. The Bulldogs can’t guard Malik Thomas, though. He has 11 points to lead all scorers.

Gonzaga 17, USF 16, 11:26 left in 1st half: Gonzaga ratchets up its defense and Ryan Nembhard knocks down a pair of 3-pointers to get the Bulldogs going. Nembhard leads all scorers with 8 points. Malik Thomas leads USF with 7 points.

USF 6, Gonzaga 0, 15:50 left in 1st half: Choppy start for the Zags. They’ve already turned the ball over three times and are 0-of-5 from the field. USF is playing physical defense, bumping them off their driving lines and getting hands on passes.

USF taking away Ike: The Dons appear determined to not let Gonzaga big man Graham Ike establish deep post position, and the Zags have already turned it over twice trying to enter it into Ike. USF has an early 6-0 lead.

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

Pregame updates

USA Basketball’s Grant Hill is in the house tonight to present Mark Few with his Olympic ring from the 2024 Paris Olympics. Few was an assistant coach for Team USA, who captured the gold medal with a 98-87 victory over France.

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