Box Score
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Slow starts don't usually manifest into strong finishes for visiting teams at the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, where Gonzaga had won 20 consecutive WCC games heading into tonight's game against USF.
Despite playing without the services of two starters, the 24th-ranked Zags still had plenty of firepower to easily defeat Dons, 69-41 tonight in Spokane.
USF, which had shot over 60 percent from the floor in it previous two games and came into tonight's contest shooting 51.1 percent on the season, made just 25.5 percent (14-of-55) of its shots from the floor in suffering its 25th consecutive loss to the Zags in Spokane.
The Bulldogs also harrassed the Dons into 16 turnovers that led to 22 points and held a 47-37 advantage on the boards.
Gonzaga, which came into the game shooting a conference-best 52 percent from the field, managed to shoot just 43.1 percent on its home floor but it was enough to hand the the Dons a 28-point loss.
Avry Holmes was the only USF player to reach double-figures, finishing with a season-high 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
Mark Tollefsen and
Tim Derksen finished with eight each however no other USF player scored more than four points.
USF's leading scorer
Cole Dickerson was held to just four points on 2-of-7 shooting from the floor.
Kruize Pinkins pulled down a game-high 11 points, but was 0-for-10 from the floor and finished with just three points.
Drew Barham scored a team-high 15 points for Gonzaga which improved to 12-2 overall and 2-0 in the WCC.
The Zags led wire-to-wire in the game and led by as many as 30 points at 63-33 with 9:22 left in the game.
The Dons were held scoreless for the first 4:25 of the game until Holmes' three-pointer that made the score 7-3.
The capacity crowd of 6,000 would never guess they were watching two of the nation's top shooting teams, especially in the first half. USF made just 7-of-26 (26.9 percent) from the floor while the Zags managed to shoot just 38.5 percent in the first period.
The Zags led 13-9 with 11:28 remaining before going on a 28-14 run to take a 41-23 lead at intermission.
Gonzaga slammed the door with a 18-8 run to start the second half and coasted to the 28-point victory.
USF will return home on Thursday to face red-hot Loyola Marymount, which defeated BYU and San Diego to open league play. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. in Memorial Gymnasium.
