Gonzaga starts fast, finishes strong in WCC opener

Gonzaga continued with one good habit and broke one not-so-good habit.

The Zags built another comfortable first-half lead and this time they kept right on building to cruise past Pepperdine 99-73 in the WCC opener for both teams in front of 6,000 Monday at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Gonzaga (9-3) won its 30th straight over the Waves (7-5), who were picked to finish third in the WCC coaches’ preseason poll.

The Zags have followed up several strong first halves with shaky closing halves, including Saturday’s 86-79 victory over Tennessee in Seattle. Not this time.

“A lot of communication and everybody was trying to keep each other going and engaged,” senior guard Kyle Dranginis said. “And we warmed up (for the second half) a little differently, too. Instead of just shooting spot-ups we did regular layup lines and got everybody moving and staying active.

“That was our main focus – come out and play a full 40 minutes.”

GU guards scored the first 11 points before Kyle Wiltjer buried a 3-pointer with 16:12 remaining. Sophomore forward Domantas Sabonis poured in 11 points – including his first career 3-pointer – in a span of 2 minutes and 20 seconds, putting the Zags up 29-6.

“It was more so they started out fast,” Pepperdine coach Marty Wilson said. “Our game plan was not letting Sabonis and Wiltjer go for 60 like they did (versus Tennessee). Maybe our team focused too much on them and not getting back out to the other guys – and the other guys haven’t been shooting it well. But after the other guys hit a couple of 3s, it became contagious.”

Gonzaga made 14 of its first 17 shots as its lead ballooned to 37-9, but the points started to dry up in the final 10 minutes of the half. Point guard Jeremy Major’s 16 points kept the Waves somewhat close but the Zags still led 48-32 at half.

Eric McClellan’s 3-pointer bumped Gonzaga’s lead to 19 early in the second half and the Waves were never closer than 17 the rest of the way. The Zags made a season-high 16 3-pointers – eight different players connected at least once – on just 26 attempts.

“A lot of it was taking better shots,” GU coach Mark Few said. “Josh (Perkins) played an excellent floor game and I thought our bigs handled all the doubling, reaching, poking and grabbing, and delivered when they had to and kicked it out and got guys open 3s.”

Sabonis finished with 23 points, eight rebounds and six assists. He had nine assists in 11 previous games. Perkins made four 3-pointers in the second half and scored 17 points in 29 turnover-free minutes. McClellan added 15 points and five boards. Silas Melson contributed 12 points.

“He’s really growing before our very eyes and blossoming,” Few said of Sabonis. “Again, you’re talking about a guy that comes in here every single night (after practice). He did it all last year and again this year. He deserves it.”

The Zags didn’t miss often from anywhere on the court. They shot 55 percent from the field, 61.5 percent beyond the arc and 90.5 percent at the free-throw line.

“I think it’s a little bit of a relief because we all know we can shoot and we can score,” Dranginis said. “We’ve just been a little off in these few games when we needed those 3s. It kind of elevated the significance.

“When you have such great posts, you have to pick your poison. If they don’t want to guard us on the perimeter we’re going to have to knock down shots, simple as that. Tonight we were able to do that.”

Major finished with 21 points and Stacy Davis added 15.