SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) – Top-ranked Gonzaga has the toughest offense in the country, yet coach Mark Few believes the Bulldogs can be very defensive too.
Corey Kispert scored 26 points on nine of 11 shots and Gonzaga stopped San Francisco’s hot shot in the moment portion to win 85-62 on Saturday.
“ It’s a wonderful moment that is part of defending against a pretty tough attack, ” Few said. “ We kept them at 25% (shooting) in the moment part. ”
Joel Ayayi added 18 numbers and Andrew Nembhard had 14 for Gonzaga (10-0, 1-0), who has directly won games at home, the longest streak in the country. Drew Timme had 10 problems and 11 rebounds.
Jamaree Bouyea scored 18 problems for San Francisco (7-5, 1-1), which has lost 20 straight games to Gonzaga since 2012. Dzmitry Ryuny added problems.
They both shot well in the first half. San Francisco took a 14-13 lead, but the Zags responded with a 12-2 run to come back 25-16.
San Francisco cut the lead to 3 on several occasions. But the Zags finished with a 9-0 push, Kispert’s long 3-point buzzer that gave the Bulldogs a 47-37 lead at halftime.
Few said their team took too many shots in the first half, keeping San Francisco close.
“ We didn’t have them protect us, ” Few said. “ It was a tremendous shot from Corey in the middle. ”
Kispert had 18 problems in the first half while Gonzaga shot 58%. Bouyea had 16 problems keeping San Francisco on hand. But he scored two in the part for now.
The Zags scored the first seven numbers of the moment to complete a 16-0 inning and led 54-37.
Anton Watson’s basket gave Gonzaga 65-45 credit with 12 minutes to go, as the Dons made just 3 of their first thirteen shots in the middle of the moment. A 15-3 run brought Gonzaga’s lead to 75-48 as the Dons went more than six minutes to a basket.
The Dons ended up shooting just 38. 9% for the game, down from Gonzaga’s 52. 6%.
The Zags won the rebounding war 40-25 and beat the Dons in the paint 44-24.
San Francisco coach Todd Golden said his team has been tough.
“ I think we had done some smart things, we just didn’t take smart care of the ball and we allowed them to get too many transition points, ” Golden said. “ If you allow that to happen against this team, you will make it difficult for yourself.
“ I am proud of the way we compete, ” he added. “ We played until the end. We have done a decent job. ”
IMPLICATIONS OF THE SURVEY
Gonzaga is expected to be the first in the AP Top 25, as he has been doing all season, having won 3 games this week.
BIG PICTURE
San Francisco: The Dons have a history of betting against Gonzaga in recent years. In the semifinals of last year’s CMC tournament, the Zags won 81-77. Array . . San Francisco leads the CMC in box purpose percentage of 3 points (0. 370) and box defense percentage of 3 points (0. 268).
Gonzaga: The Zags finished 26-1 on the 2020 schedule, covering portions of two shortened seasons, with the only loss to BYU in February. Array . . Gonzaga leads the country in offense (96. 2 problems consistent with gameplay) and box purpose consistent with percentage (55. 7). Array . . Four Zags average double digits in score.
STATISTICS
Gonzaga has won 23 straight games for the West Coast Conference dating back to 1996. Array . . San Francisco has lost 31 straight games to Spokane, the victory in 1989.
SUCCESS OUTSIDE THE CONFERENCE
This is the time in the season that Gonzaga enters convention play with an undefeated record since joining the NCAA in 1958. The 2016-17 Zags were 12-0 in unconventional games.
Following
San Francisco hosts Pepperdine on Thursday.
Gonzaga welcomes you to Santa Clara on Thursday.
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