Zags get upper hand on Waves

It was a game in which the Gonzaga Bulldogs never seemed truly threatened. But Monday night’s 69-52 West Coast Conference victory over Pepperdine before 6,000 at the McCarthey Athletic Center didn’t ever seem safe, either.

Part of that was Gonzaga’s sloppy play that resulted in 15 turnovers. Part was Pepperdine’s style of play, a guard-oriented attack that resulted in 27 3-point shots.

Whatever the reason, every time the Zags would stretch their lead, the Waves (4-14, 0-2 in WCC play) would answer, until the final stretch when, fueled by Derek Raivio’s hot hand, the Bulldogs pulled away.

Raivio, who had five points going into the final 11 minutes, finished with 19 points, including a stretch where he scored nine consecutive points, helping the Zags (11-6, 2-0) build an 18-point lead that finally proved insurmountable.

But until that point, the GU strategy was to combat the Waves’ outside attack with an inside orientation of its own.

That difference in philosophies showed early, including in the starting lineups when Pepperdine started four guards and one big, if you call 6-foot-7 Willie Calick, big. The Zags countered with their usual three guards along with 6-9 Sean Mallon and 6-9 Abdullahi Kuso.

Sean Mallon finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, the fifth double-double of his career and first this season. David Pendergraft added another 10 points.