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Gonzaga dominates St. Thomas Aquinas to wrap up season-opening home stand at 4-0

Gonzaga’s Byron Wesley (22) is fouled by Sam Berlin (33) of St. Thomas Aquinas during the first half. (Colin Mulvany)
Gonzaga’s Byron Wesley (22) is fouled by Sam Berlin (33) of St. Thomas Aquinas during the first half. (Colin Mulvany)Buy a print of this photo
By Jim Meehan jimm@spokesman.com(509) 459-5585

And that concludes the preliminaries.

Gonzaga steamrolled visiting St. Thomas Aquinas College 109-55 on Saturday night, polishing off a 4-0 home stand to open the season. The 13th-ranked Zags crushed Sacramento State by 46 points, Saint Joseph’s by 52 and led No. 22 SMU by 25 before settling for a 72-56 victory.

Next up is a trip to New York City and presumably stiffer competition, beginning with Georgia on Wednesday in the NIT Season Tip-Off.

“These guys are excited,” coach Mark Few said of the upcoming trip. “It’s going to be a whole new challenge. Everything (with) the preseason rankings and this and that … and then it starts shaking out.”

The Bulldogs took care of business against the undersized Spartans, a Division II program from Sparkill, New York.

“We stuck with the plan,” Few said, “and sometimes in games like this it’s not easy to stick to the plan when it’s coming that easy.”

A big portion of the plan was exploiting a size advantage against the smaller Spartans. Beyond center Sam Berlin (6-10, 243 pounds), St. Thomas Aquinas had nobody to match up with the Zags’ frontcourt.

GU’s four tallest players took full advantage, as did 6-foot-4 wing Byron Wesley. Reserve forward Angel Nunez scored 16 points in eight first-half minutes. He finished with a career-high 24 points and 11 rebounds.

“I really enjoyed that,” said Nunez, who has made 16 of 20 field-goal attempts in four games. “A lot of it is just listening to the coaches and taking the shots that are open and not forcing anything.”

Domantas Sabonis scored 19 points in 19 minutes. Kyle Wiltjer posted his first double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds). Wesley had 22 points. Przemek Karnowski added 10 points and five boards in just 15 minutes.

Gonzaga scored 62 points in the paint and had a 43-21 rebounding edge.

At times, the 6-10 Sabonis was being defended by 6-3 Jonathan McNair.

“I remember when I was really young that would happen in games,” said Sabonis, the only Zag to reach double figures in all four games. “It hasn’t happened in a while.”

It was Gonzaga’s first contest against a non D-I opponent since defeating Lewis-Clark State College 104-57 in 2012 and the Warriors 103-61 in 2010. The Zags have now won 29 straight at McCarthey Athletic Center.

The Spartans stayed close early on the strength of four 3-pointers, including two banked in by guard Marcus Henderson. His second 3 cut Gonzaga’s lead to 31-21 but GU outscored the visitors 26-5 over the final 8 minutes of the half.

The Zags finished 42 of 62 from the field (67.7 percent). Kevin Pangos and Josh Perkins each had seven assists. Gonzaga finished with 26 assists, its fourth consecutive game with at least 20 assists.

The season is barely over a week old, but Few has been pleased with the team’s consistency and sustained defensive effort.

“We’ve continued to move the ball and make the extra pass,” he said. “We’re not giving up a whole lot of easy looks, regardless of who we’re playing. Sacramento State was last Friday, so stay tuned.”