Well, it wasn’t pretty, but Gonzaga kept his streak unbeaten and improved to 18-0 overall and 9-0 at the WCC with a 76-58 win over the Pacific at Stockton. Drew Timme led offensively with 21 points, while Jalen Suggs and Corey Kispert both shot 19 and 14, respectively.
The Zags came out of the gate slowly, especially on the offensive side. They scored just 11 points in 36% of field shots with six turns in the first ten minutes, and played from behind most of the first half. Pacific played an ugly game and prevented the Zags from developing too much offensive pace at halftime. All of this resulted in the middle of the season with the lowest score from Gonzaga, who entered the break 32-31.
Gonzaga’s lack of offensive production in the first half was not helped by the lack of a three-point shot. Suggs made the top three of the game for the Zags with 4:47 remaining in the first half, and they ended the semester just 2-8 from bottom.
The start of the second half did not look very promising for the Zags either, as a series of twists in the attack contributed to an 8-2 series for the Pacific. Eventually, Gonzaga found some offense in the form of Drew Timme and his glorious mustache. They were able to make some moves for Timme, taking advantage of the confusion for the Tigers greats.
Both Timme and Corey Kispert found their rhythm as the half progressed, and each advanced with a few clutch strokes while Gonzaga gradually struggled to wrench control out of the Tigers. 27 of the 35 points added occurred in the second half, while leading the Zags in the final stretch.
Credit where he deserves it, Pacific managed to keep the game even when the Zags started to find their rhythm. It was only in the final minutes that Gonzaga managed to put the game aside. Damon Stoudamire’s team played hard for 40 minutes and definitely had a better performance than the last time the two teams met, a 95-49 win for the Zags.
In addition to the 19 points, Jalen Suggs also brought 9 rebounds. Joel Ayayi also had 8 points and 8 rebounds for the Zags, while Jordan Bell of the Pacific scored 11 points and 11 double rebounds.
With the recent schedule changes, Gonzaga will play his next game on Monday against BYU in Provo, game time set to 8pm PST.