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The Gonzaga Bulldogs earned their third road victory of the season with a 90-62 victory over the San Diego Toreros at the Jenny Craig Lodge. With the win, Gonzaga sets a 7-0 WCC record, although the evening was somewhat marred by pre-game news that Oumar Ballo would miss the game with a thumb injury.
Five different Zags scored in double digits, with Drew Timme leading with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Julian Strawther entered the game with a single made three-runner-up on the season, and doubled that mark with two more in a comfortable 11-point outing for the rookie. Corey Kispert had 19 points and 8 rebounds, and Jalen Suggs added 17 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals along with a handful of highlights. Anton Watson completed with 10 points, while Andrew Nembhard was excellent pulling the strings with 10 assists.
The first half played out very differently from most expectations, with San Diego dictating the terms of engagement for the game’s opening 12 minutes and managing to keep Gonzaga at bay. Whereas Toreros generally don’t play this slow, it was impressive to see them control the game so effectively. Of course, the Zags made their lives easier by being a little more carefree with the ball than they should be, especially considering the USD isn’t exactly a defensive heavyweight.
A slow and sloppy start prevented Gonzaga from taking his first lead before the 8 minutes of the first half. Apart from Timme, who San Diego chose not to overtake at the post, Gonzaga had very little attack until the last minutes of the first half. Ayayi, who is so good at impacting the game in so many ways, was almost anonymous and finished the half with zero points, two turnovers, one assist and two rebounds.
There were good times here and there with the biggest highlight being a steal from Suggs and a drop off at Kispert who hammered a dunk in transition, but for the most part it was harder than the glittering basketball .
While the first half went as smoothly as San Diego could have possibly hoped, Gonzaga was still ahead 40-29 at the break and was done with a close game.
The Zags exercised much more control over the procedure from the start of the second. The defense was a bit tighter and the attacking moment was much more determined, especially off the ball.
Kispert came to life offensively, perhaps spurred on by a questionable charge call – the kind that has plagued college basketball for years. Suggs then grabbed the stick, setting up a rare 4-point play and highlighting reel stealing and dunking on back-to-back possessions.
The result was sealed at that point, although the Toreros didn’t have to get the memo as they continued to play hard and prevented Mark Few from clearing his bench before the last media delay. Despite some defensive shortcomings late in the game, Gonzaga was never threatened and left San Diego with his perfect record intact.
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