Santangelo Sparks: Gonzaga Bulldogs open WCC play with cozy road victory over Loyola Marymount, 93-62

His scholarship calls for him to play. Matt Santangelo acts like he has a rider that also allows him to do more.

“He’s playing like a coach on the floor,” Gonzaga University men’s basketball assistant Mark Few said.

Running the club, scoring and dishing off assists, Santangelo keyed a 93-62 victory over Loyola Marymount on Friday night as the Bulldogs (12-4) got off on the right foot in the West Coast Conference race.

Santangelo, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, scored 15 of his game-high 20 points in the first half. He had a hand in 12 consecutive GU points, either with assists or scoring, as the Bulldogs went on a 19-0 run to surge from a 14-6 deficit to a 25-14 lead with 7:54 to go before intermission.

“He took it upon himself to make sure the team was ready,” head coach Dan Monson said of Santangelo. “Mentally he was really focused. … He was very efficient; he played a complete game, mentally and physically.”

Santangelo augmented his points with four assists, five rebounds and one turnover.

Gonzaga held the Lions (4-9, 0-1) without a field goal for 11:39 and took a 42-25 halftime lead. Then, the Bulldogs outscored the Lions 15-4 to start the second half and led by no fewer than 23 points thereafter. Their greatest margin was 33.

Four Bulldogs scored in double figures, with Bakari Hendrix adding 17, Axel Dench 13 and Casey Calvary 10. Dench hit 6 of 7 shots and also had a game-high eight rebounds.

Loyola was led by Ben Ammerman with 16 points. Tim Kennedy contributed 13.

The Lions shot 27.4 percent from the field (17 of 62), making just six 2-pointers - 6 of 30.

GU’s defense, Monson acknowledged, was largely responsible.

“This is the first time since the Tulsa game (GU’s fourth game) where our offense really fed off our defense,” he said. “In all our other games, we’ve tried to outscore people. (Friday) we made some mistakes on offense, but were able to feed off our defense.”

As the frustration mounted in the first half, Loyola’s first-year coach, Charles Bradley, was ejected after drawing his second technical foul with 45 seconds left before halftime.