Recap and highlights: No. 8 Gonzaga never trails in dominate 115-75 win over Portland

After turning in three straight heart-pumping wins, Gonzaga’s victory over Portland came as a welcomed change of pace.

The Bulldogs never trailed and coasted to a 115-75 rout of the Pilots at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Saturday’s rout carried the energy of a afternoon shootaround in comparison to Thursday’s win over Brigham Young, where Julian Strawther buried the winner with 9 seconds to go.

The Pilots (9-11, 1-4 WCC) missed their first 10 3-point attempts and were sloppy with possession, as the Bulldogs (16-3, 5-0) built a 20-point lead in the first 10 minutes.

Gonzaga forced 19 turnovers in the game, leading to 37 points.

Malachi Smith led the Zags with 27 points, making seven 3-pointers.

Five other Zags scored double figures, Drew Timme had 18 points, Julian Strawther had 14, Nolan Hickman had 13 and Ben Gregg and Anton Watson added 12 apiece.

Gonzaga will host Loyola Marymount on Thursday at 6 p.m., then go on the road at Pacific on Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. Bot of those games will be broadcast on KHQ.

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First half

16:10 – GU 12, PU 4: Gonzaga takes advantage of a cold start from the Pilots, who are 0-for-7 on 3-pointers.

Strawther leads with five points, Timme adds four.

12:40 – GU 20, PU 5: Watson makes a mid-ranger jumper, gets a steal and Smith makes a 3-pointer to give the Zags an 11-1 run. Portland calls a timeout, without a field goal in the last 4:18.

Strawther up to 10 points. Timme and Watson with eight apiece.

8:01 – GU 34, PU 14: Robertson makes Portland’s first two 3-pointers, after an 0 of 10 start, but its all Zags at the U8 media timeout.

Strawther leads with eight points, as the Zags have a 14-0 advantage on points off turnovers.

3:47 – GU 44, PU 25: Portland gets some shots to go, but doesn’t feel very threatening, as the Zags maintain their advantage at the U4 media timeout.

Halftime

There won’t be much drama in this one.

Gonzaga coasted to a 61-28 halftime lead over Portland, shooting 60.5% from the field and making 9 of 17 3-point attempts.

The Pilots missed their first 10 3-point tries and had 12 turnovers, which the Bulldogs scored 26 points off of.

Drew Timme and Julian Strawther lead with 12 points apiece, while Malachi Smith has added 11. Should be plenty of time in the second half for the Zags to get some deeper rotation players minutes on the court.

Second half

15:28 – GU 67, PU 40: Portland chips into Gonzaga’s lead with a 7-0 run over the last 1:25.

Bulldogs open the second half 0 of 5 on 3-pointers. Timme up to 16 points.

14:02 – GU 75, PU 40: Gonzaga answers with a run of its own, as Smith makes a pair of 3-pointers. Portland calls for a timeout.

Smith has 17 points in the game.

6:57 – GU 97, PU 54: Not much left to decide but the final score at the U8 media timeout.

Smith leads with 20 points and Timme has 18. Bench should see some minutes the rest of the way.

Starting 5

Pregame

How much closer can Gonzaga make these games than it already has early into its West Coast Conference schedule?

The Bulldogs (15-3, 4-0 WCC) are coming off a thrilling 75-74 win over Brigham Young on Thursday. Each of its last three wins have been decided in the final minutes, with a different hero in each.

Thursday it was Julian Strawther, who made the winning 3-pointer with 9 seconds left against the Cougars.

Gonzaga will hope it won’t need another comeback tonight, when it welcomes Portland at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

The Pilots (9-10, 1-3), led by former Eastern Washington coach Shantay Legans, won’t be an easy out.

Portland snapped a five-game losing streak with a 92-87 win over San Francisco on Thursday. Earlier in the season the Pilots had an impressive performance at the Phil Knight Invitational tournament, taking then-No. 1 North Carolina to the brink, beating Villanova and losing by one to then-No.12 Michigan State. 

Series history

Neither Gonzaga, nor Portland have played any opponent as much as each other.

The Bulldogs hold a 95-48 series lead over the Pilots, who haven’t fared well in the series since the mid-80s. Gonzaga has won the last 14 meetings and 33 of the last 34.

The Zags played Portland once last year, a 104-72 win in the Kennel on Jan. 29, 2022. 

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