After 24 consecutive March Madness appearances, Gonzaga's streak — the third-longest active run in college basketball — is in danger this year. While the Zags are 21-6 overall and 11-2 in the WCC, their lack of quality wins makes them a bubble team for the first time in a while.

Fortunately for Gonzaga, Mark Few's team picked up a huge recent win at Kentucky and has several opportunities for Quad I victories coming up to close out the regular season. Games at San Francisco and Saint Mary's will be hugely important in the Bulldogs' pursuit of a 25th consecutive NCAA Tournament. Win both games and Gonzaga will not have to sweat on Selection Sunday.

Any other result besides winning out in the regular season means the Zags will likely need to reach the final of the WCC Tournament at least. Saint Mary's will be the favorite to win the conference tournament, but don't overlook a Gonzaga team that still must prove itself down the stretch.

Mark Few next to the Gonzaga logo, fans cheering

A history of winning the big ones

There have only been two times in the last 16 seasons leading up to this year when Gonzaga was a serious doubt to make the NCAA Tournament. In both years (2010-11 and 2015-16), Mark Few's team tied Saint Mary's for the WCC regular season title, won the conference tourney, made the NCAA Tournament as an 11-seed, and then won a game in March Madness (in 2016 it was two games).

Even in years where Saint Mary's has proven to be an equal, Gonzaga has shown an ability to win when it mattered. The Zags have won 20 of the last 25 WCC conference championship games and taken home at least a share of the regular season title every year since 1999/2000. Before they can think about postseason basketball, Mark Few's team must navigate a tricky end to the conference slate. Gonzaga will look to get revenge on Santa Clara after the Bronco's upset win earlier this season, then travel to the Bay Area to face San Francisco and Saint Mary's to close out the year.

This stretch is the perfect set of games to ramp up for the WCC tourney.

Offense is finding its groove

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Since losing to Saint Mary's Gonzaga has been almost unstoppable offensively. The Zags surpassed 85 points in each of their last four games and are fourth in the country in that span with an adjusted offense efficiency of 131.6. An important factor behind this improvement is better shooting from beyond the three-point arc.

Gonzaga is shooting 39.5% from deep during this stretch versus just 33.1% on the year up to that point. Nolan Hickman in particular has made a notable jump, hitting 17 of 33 shots from beyond the arc since the Saint Mary's defeat.

Poor outside shooting has been the common thread in all of this team's defeats this year. Every Gonzaga loss has come in a game where it shot under 27% from deep and the squad is 3-6 when shooting under 30% from beyond the arc. More consistent shooting finally gives the Zags the balanced offense that will take them to the WCC title.

Ben Gregg, the X-Factor

After playing just over 40% of minutes during non-con play, Ben Gregg has been on the floor two-thirds of the time during WCC action, and his presence is noticeable. While he does not receive the same attention that Graham Ike, Anton Watson, or Ryan Nembhard get, Gregg is the high-effort guy who does the dirty work that wins games. He is second in the team in Box Plus-Minus and leads the Zags in defensive rating.

The junior has been impactful on the offensive end too, averaging 10 PPG in WCC play while hitting 83% of his close twos. Anton Watson is tabbed the more high-profile glue guy and elite defender, Ben Gregg has quietly been a key cog to Gonzaga's success this season. His ability to defend, stretch the floor, and score down low make him a matchup problem for every opponent Gonzaga faces in the WCC Tournament.