Pepperdine rocked out on Saturday night, knowing what a win could do for them in the WCC standings. Before Gonzaga could blink, the Waves maintained a 16-7 lead in the first media timeout. Whatever the coaching staff said to the Bulldogs at that time limit seemed to work. They increased the intensity and looked at the Zags who were in first place throughout the season. Six Zags ended in double digits and wiped out Pepperdine 97-75 to improve to 17-0.
Aaron Cook was the catalyst for Gonzaga’s great run in the first half. Much like the Saint Mary game in Moraga, Cook got off the bench and gave the lethargic Bulldogs a big boost. He started the game 5 out of 5, attacked Colbey Ross and made an incredible pass.
With Jalen Suggs on the bench with two fouls, Cook scored 12 points in the first half. Andrew Nembhard had six points and six assists. Drew Timme and Corey Kispert double-digitized and Gonzaga hit 61 percent for a 49-34 lead at halftime. Pepperdine scored 16 points in the first 4:19 of the time and made 18 points in the final 15:41.
With Oumar Ballo still out with a thumb injury, Gonzaga went with a seven-man rotation with a ton of small ball. Waves had no answers for any of these formations. Nembhard finished with 17 points and eight assists off the bench. Cook added 15 points and three steals. Timme, Kispert, Joel Ayayi and Anton Watson ended in double digits.
In a game in which Suggs was limited and Ayayi was quiet until the final minutes, the Zags still managed 97 points with 60% of shots. They fired 82% (28 to 34) of jaw-dropping inside the arc.
It is really difficult to point out this performance outside the first four minutes. The attack was to share the ball in the best possible way throughout the season, the defense stopped for the necessary 25 minutes and they won a street game by more than 20 points against a Pepperdine team that just beat BYU.
This will be an interesting week for the Zags. Saturday’s game against Santa Clara has already been postponed. Thursday’s game against the LMU could follow suit, with Lions announcing a positive test this morning. Will they find an opponent outside the conference to sneak in this week? Will the WCC change its schedule to give Gonzaga a game or two this week? Let’s wait and see.
Oh, and yell at Anton Watson for covering the 21.5 point spread with this breathtaking dunk. This made some people happy.