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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

No. 13 Gonzaga sets record for victory margin at MAC

Gonzaga made quick work of Saint Joseph’s on Wednesday.

How quick? It was all but over by the first media timeout.

The Zags made their first eight shots and led by 38 at half. Gonzaga began resting starters at the outset of the second half and coasted to a 94-42 NIT Season Tip-Off victory in front of a full house of 6,000, some hitting the exits at halftime, at the McCarthey Athletic Center. It was the largest margin of victory in the 10-year history of the MAC, eclipsing a 50-point win over South Carolina Upstate in 2009.

No. 13 Gonzaga (3-0) has held leads of at least 25 in routing Sacramento State, SMU and Saint Joseph’s. The Hawks, an NCAA tournament team last year that was hit hard by graduation, dropped to 1-2 and suffered the most lopsided loss in school history.

“If that was in a park, they probably wouldn’t have let us on the court,” Hawks coach Phil Martelli said. “That was a special performance (by Gonzaga). I said to (GU coach) Mark (Few), I apologized because we really didn’t make them do anything.” 

Senior guard Gary Bell Jr. hit consecutive 3-pointers early on to become the 38th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. He got a good start on the next 1,000 by draining five 3s and scoring 18 points in the first half, but he came up limping in the final seconds.

Bell bumped knees with a Hawks player and limped off the court. He didn’t start the second half – joining Kevin Pangos, Przemek Karnowski and Kyle Wiltjer on the bench. Bell did see a few minutes of playing time later in the half.

“It’s fine, just a stinger,” Bell said. “It wasn’t scary. It hurt at the time, now it’s good.”

Bell’s shooting stroke was really good. He made 5 of 7 beyond the arc. On his other field goal, he split two defenders and made an acrobatic layup while being fouled.

“I was just getting open looks and guys were finding me,” Bell said. “We just move the ball so well.”

This one was never in doubt as Gonzaga bolted in front 29-5. The Zags made 63 percent of their first-half shots. Saint Joseph’s was just 3 of 28 (10.7 percent).

“I loved how we came out, especially on the defensive end and we sustained it pretty much the whole half,” Few said. “It had to be one of the better, if not the best defensive halves we’ve ever played. I thought we challenged pretty much every shot.”

Five Zags reached double figures, led by Bell’s 18. Freshman Josh Perkins had 13 points. Byron Wesley contributed 12 points, six assists and five rebounds. Karnowski had 11 points and eight boards and freshman Domas Sabonis posted his first double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds).

Karnowski got off to a quick start with two field goals in the opening minutes. He drained a 13-foot bank shot to bump Gonzaga’s lead to 8-0.

“I’ve been working on that,” the 7-foot-1 center said. “I’m trying to expand my game and be able to show my teammates that they can trust me.”

Gonzaga dominated the rebounds (54-26) and had its third straight game with at least 20 assists. The Zags have made 10 3-pointers in each game this season.

“I am a little surprised how fast it’s coming together,” said Wesley, a transfer from USC. “The coaches have done a good job of pushing us, pushing every player individually and collectively to get the best out of us. I think we’ve been getting that chemistry in these last few games and we’ve done a good job of adjusting to what we need to fix.”