MALIBU, Calif – No, Gonzaga’s winning streak against Pepperdine doesn’t date all the way back to the program’s first year in the West Coast Conference, even if it might feel that way as the seventh-ranked Zags open their 37th and final WCC season playing the team they’ve accumulated the most wins against under coach Mark Few.

Someone could compile an extensive list of numbers, records and statistical nuggets to measure Gonzaga’s dominance in the WCC the last three decades. Citing the active winning streak against Pepperdine would also do the trick.

As of now, it’s 49 consecutive victories for Gonzaga (12-1) over Pepperdine (5-8) entering Sunday’s 5 p.m. (KHQ) WCC opener at Firestone Fieldhouse. Oddsmakers give the Zags better-than-great chances of capturing No. 50 miles off the Malibu coastline, with Few’s team favored by 28½ points.

Currently, Gonzaga’s 49-game run against Pepperdine is the longest active streak by any team in the country against another Division I opponent. It’s also tied for the second-longest streak in NCAA history. The Zags and Waves are scheduled to play twice this season, but they’d need to meet for a third time in the WCC Tournament – or in a nonconference game at some point in the future – for GU to match UCLA’s record of 52 consecutive wins, set against Cal from 1961-85.

On paper, Gonzaga isn’t expected to be tested in WCC play the way it was last season, when the Zags dropped four league games. KenPom.com gives Few’s team at least an 87% chance to win every game on its schedule until the regular-season finale at Saint Mary’s, where the Zags only have a 73% chance of winning.

Don’t worry about Gonzaga’s focus drifting, though.

The Zags are still squarely in the picture for a No. 1 seed at the NCAA Tournament and probably can’t afford more than one slip-up over the next two months if they hope to obtain that on Selection Sunday. Players like Graham Ike and Braden Huff, meanwhile, may be getting motivation from other sources. Ike and Huff, who average 36.1 points combined, were part of 2023-24 and 2024-25 teams that conceded WCC outright regular-season titles to rival Saint Mary’s.

The Zags have won 26 regular-season championships since 1994, but it would leave a sour taste for Ike, Huff, Few and others if they didn’t leave with at least one of the last three titles before joining the rebuilt Pac-12 Conference next season.

More than hardware, Few is also keen on seeing what his team can accomplish from a growth standpoint.

The Zags have just one blemish in the win-loss column, but they used five different starting lineups during nonconference play, experimented with dozens and rotations/combinations and had all nine rotation players – 10 if you figure deep-reserve Davis Fogle into the equation – contribute at different points. 

“We’re not even halfway through our season,” Few said. “The teams that continue to get better – I’ve said this every year, you’ve got to continue to get better and those are the ones that will win and advance in the NCAA Tournament. Teams that get stuck with how they’re playing in late December, it’s not going to happen. We have to stay on that growth plane.”

Pepperdine was picked to finish 11th out of 12 teams in the preseason WCC poll, while Gonzaga received nine of 12 votes to finish first. The Waves are a brand-new team with the exception of one player, forward Danilo Dozic, that played in last year’s WCC Tournament semifinal loss to Saint Mary’s.

Second-year coach Ed Schilling had to replace four other starters, including point guard Moe Odum, who had 12 points and seven assists for Arizona State in a 77-65 loss to Gonzaga on Nov. 14, and forward Dovydas Butka, who scored 19 points and grabbed six rebounds for Campbell when the Lions lost 98-70 at McCarthey Athletic Center on Dec. 17.

First-year Pepperdine guards Aaron Clark (14.5 points per game) and Javon Cooley (13.9) account for more than one-third of the team’s scoring. Cooley is shooting 38.9% from the 3-point line.

Another newcomer, Styles Phipps, is averaging double figures at 12.4 ppg to go along with 6.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists. Phipps, a 6-foot-2 sophomore guard, was teammates with Gonzaga’s Tyon Grant-Foster at Grand Canyon and averaged 7.8 minutes for the Antelopes’ NCAA Tournament team last season.

The Zags won’t need to dig too deep for information on reserve forward Pavle Stosic. The junior was on GU’s roster two years ago, averaging 3.3 mpg for a team that advanced to the Sweet 16. Stosic redshirted last season at Utah State before transferring to Pepperdine, where he’s averaging 3.9 ppg and 3.9 rpg in 18.0 mpg off the bench.