The Bulldogs’ balance was evident throughout. At half, seven players had scored between five and seven points as Gonzaga took a commanding 44-27 lead. Guy Landry Edi finished with 16 points and seven boards. Sam Dower scored 15 points, David Stockton and Elias Harris each had 12 and Kevin Pangos added 10 points, six assists and four steals. The Bulldogs came up with 18 steals while forcing 28 turnovers and converting them into 34 points. Nobody played longer than 25 minutes. GU’s bench outscored SUU’s 42-11.

No. 19 Gonzaga (2-0) dominated the Mountaineers (0-1) for the second time in eight months, this time an 84-50 victory late Monday night in front of 6,000 at the McCarthey Athletic Center. “It was a great performance by our guys,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “I was worried, especially having a man down inside (minus Kelly Olynyk) we might get exploited on the glass, but our guys fought and battled. I thought we took care of the ball against a team that pressures you all over the court. We shot 52 percent, which is a good thing.”

The 17th-ranked Bulldogs (3-0) got an easy win – 96-58 in front of an announced crowd of 6,000, though there were some rare empty seats – and some teachable moments Sunday at the McCarthey Athletic Center. South Dakota dropped to 1-3.

In its first close game of the young basketball season against a defensive-minded opponent, Gonzaga finally found its rhythm offensively in the second half. Gonzaga’s defense was solid throughout and when junior guard David Stockton began picking apart Clemson’s defense with six-second half assists, the 17th-ranked Bulldogs were able to dig out a 57-49 victory at the Old Spice Classic in front of 2,076 Thursday at the HP Field House.

The game of basketball looks pretty simple when a team is efficient on offense, steady on defense and owns the glass. Gonzaga combined those elements into 40 tidy minutes and blasted Oklahoma 72-47 in the Old Spice Classic semifinals on Friday night in front of 2,205 at HP Field House. There were no lead changes, no ties. Gonzaga scored the first seven points, endured a brief lull, then closed the first half with a 7-1 run to take a 32-22 advantage. Senior forward Elias Harris poured in 10 points in the first 4 minutes of the second half as Gonzaga stretched its lead to 18.

Kevin Pangos knocked down four 3-pointers in the second half and Elias Harris poured in 24 points as the Bulldogs turned back several Davidson rallies and captured the Old Spice Classic title with an entertaining 81-67 victory Sunday in front of 4,121 at the HP Field House.

Redshirt freshman Kyle Dranginis poured in 30 points, had seven assists and grabbed six rebounds to help the 12th-ranked Bulldogs cruise past Lewis-Clark State College 104-57 in front of 6,000 at the McCarthey Athletic Center. Dranginis’ previous season high was six points, but nobody inside GU’s locker room was surprised by his scoring outburst.

Each of Gonzaga's four talented interior players came up big Saturday, particularly Sam Dower, who sparked a first-half comeback and finished with 18 points in Gonzaga’s 85-67 victory over future WCC member Pacific in front of 6,000 at the McCarthey Athletic Center. Dower, Elias Harris, Kelly Olynyk and Przemek Karnowski combined to make 20 of 30 shots, 16 of 20 free throws, score 56 points and grab 27 rebounds.

Kelly Olynyk scored 22 second-half points to help the Bulldogs past a Cougars team that fit a season’s worth of clutch shots into the game’s final five minutes. “I could see where my opportunities were,” Olynyk said, “and I guess I went out and seized them.” But Olynyk’s yeoman-like effort might have gone for naught had Kevin Pangos not banked home a running layup with 2.2 seconds left, breaking a 69-69 tie after WSU guard DaVonte Lacy had scored five seconds earlier. WSU (5-4) made its share of big-time, game-saving shots. Gonzaga just made the final one.

Senior guard Brandon Paul hit five of Illinois’ 11 3-pointers and scored 35 points to lead the 13th-ranked Illini past No. 10 Gonzaga 85-74 in front of a packed house of 6,000 Saturday at the McCarthey Athletic Center. The Bulldogs scored 33 points in the first 12:20, then just 39 points in the final 27:40. Gonzaga committed 12 of its 16 turnovers in the first half. After hitting 61 percent of its field goals in the first half, Gonzaga faded to 38.5 percent in the second half.

The Bulldogs, stung by their first defeat of the season the previous week to Illinois, dialed up the intensity during practice and carried it onto the court, roughing up Kansas State 68-52 in front of 16,241 Saturday at KeyArena. Junior forward Kelly Olynyk scored 20 minutes before fouling out after 19 minutes of playing time. The 14th-ranked Bulldogs (10-1) held a 38-12 edge in points in the paint. They handled Kansas State, No. 14 nationally in rebounding margin, 33-26 on the boards.

The 14th-ranked Bulldogs thumped Campbell 74-52 in front of 6,000 Wednesday at the McCarthey Athletic Center to close the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule. Many of the players will be at the airport this morning, catching flights home for the holiday before resuming practice Christmas Day. “It’ll be extremely nice to get home and see family and really relax and refocus,” said senior forward Elias Harris, who is headed to Houston. “I wish we were 12-0 but against Illinois we didn’t play our best, didn’t play smart and that’s what we deserved in that game.

Kevin Pangos, who came in shooting just 30 percent in his last five games and 38 percent on the season, hit 10 of 13 shots, including 7 of 10 3s, en route to a season-high 31 points. His seven 3-pointers helped lift No. 13 Gonzaga past Baylor 94-87 Friday night at the McCarthey Athletic Center. He also had three assists and his lone turnover came with 6 seconds remaining.

Kevin Pangos kept Gonzaga in the game with 18 first-half points, picking up where he left off from his 31-point effort against Baylor on Friday. He made two free throws with 44 seconds left to give GU a 32-31 lead at half. The Bulldogs led 19-8 early, but bogged down with 10 turnovers, eight in the final 10:15. Olynyk, who sat out most of the first half with two fouls, made up for lost time in the second half, pouring in 21 points and grabbing nine rebounds, seven offensive. Several of those led to putback baskets as GU rallied from three-point deficits twice the final 6 minutes.

Add Pepperdine’s quaint Firestone Fieldhouse to the list of WCC venues that seem to give the Gonzaga men’s basketball team trouble. The 10th-ranked Bulldogs, outplayed most of the first half, turned the momentum with a timely contribution from their bench, a steady performance by Elias Harris and another strong second half from Kelly Olynyk to pull away for a 78-62 victory Thursday in the conference opener for both teams witnessed by 1,938, including perhaps 750 GU supporters.

Gonzaga’s weeklong road odyssey came to a successful conclusion courtesy of Kelly Olynyk, who poured in a career-high 33 points to carry the 10th-ranked Bulldogs to an 81-74 men’s basketball victory Saturday at a raucous Leavey Center, stuffed with a record crowd of 4,907. “That was a great road trip, probably the best I’ve been on in 25 years,” Bulldogs coach Mark Few said. “That was a very inspired, spirited and much improved Santa Clara team. We withstood all their shots and got it done.”

It was a blowout for the first 25 minutes and a dogfight for the last 15. Gonzaga’s outstanding first half provided just enough cushion to outlast a stellar second half by Saint Mary’s. Kelly Olynyk and Kevin Pangos combined to score the last 16 points as the Bulldogs held off the rival Gaels 83-78 in front of 6,000 Thursday at the McCarthey Athletic Center. Olynyk finished with 31 points and Pangos added 22 points for the ninth-ranked Bulldogs (16-1, 3-0 West Coast Conference), who won their seventh straight game.

Normally Gonzaga has an inside-outside approach but it operated in reverse Thursday, knocking down eight 3-pointers in the first half and then pounding away in the lane in the second. Normally, the Bulldogs lack significant points from the “3” position, but Mike Hart, Guy Landry Edi and Drew Barham combined for 20 points against Portland. That balance and depth produced an entirely normal result for Gonzaga at the Chiles Center – a 71-49 WCC basketball victory over the Pilots, the Zags’ 17th straight win in this building.

Gonzaga had the lead, possession and just 3.5 seconds remained, but Butler’s Roosevelt Jones’ ears perked up just before the Zags inbounded the ball in front of their bench. “I heard their coach talking to (guard David) Stockton and he told (7-foot forward Kelly) Olynyk to post me up, lob it over me,” said Jones, an undersized, 6-foot-4, 227-pound forward. “So I played behind Olynyk and (Stockton) threw it too high.” Jones weaved down the floor, angled to the right side of the lane and drained an off-balance 12-footer just before time expired, giving No. 13 Butler a thrilling 64-63 victory over No. 8 Gonzaga.

The 10th-ranked Bulldogs led by as many as 22 points in the first half, endured a couple of rough patches in the second half and defeated BYU 83-63 at the McCarthey Athletic Center. Gonzaga has won three straight over the Cougars, all by double figures. Olynyk and Harris combined for 51 points and 19 rebounds. The pair had 28 points by halftime as the Bulldogs took a commanding 40-21 lead. Gonzaga had 24 points in the paint in the first 20 minutes and 42 for the game.

The Bulldogs built a 22-point halftime lead before throttling back for a 66-52 victory over San Francisco viewed by 6,000 at the McCarthey Athletic Center. “For 30 minutes, I thought we played really good basketball,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “We did a good job on the defensive end again, took great care of the ball and for the most part we were pretty efficient on offense, especially in the first half and parts of the second half.” “I didn’t like the way we finished that game,” he said. “You can’t feel good about the lead going from 20 to 14. Those guys need to understand when they get in there that’s their time to keep the pedal down.”

Gary Bell Jr. made five 3-pointers in a 6-minute, 25-second span in the first half as No. 7 Gonzaga destroyed overmatched Loyola Marymount 88-43 at Gersten Pavilion. It was GU’s most lopsided win over the Lions since a 103-56 drubbing in 2000. Bell finished with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from long distance, his first double-figures game since Santa Clara in early January and his highest point total since scoring a season-high 16 versus South Dakota in the third game of the season.

For the second straight season, Gonzaga found itself trailing San Diego late and the home crowd in full throat at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. And once again the Bulldogs made just enough plays in the closing minutes for a 65-63 men’s basketball victory over the Toreros with a hold-your-breath finish in front of 4,759. A year ago, Gonzaga scored the last eight points and 16 of the final 21 for a 65-57 win. This time it was a 12-6 closing stretch, with half of GU’s points manufactured by David Stockton. The junior guard fed Kelly Olynyk for two easy layups and then Stockton hit a floater to give GU a 65-61 lead with 58 seconds left.

The Bulldogs took control early by forcing Pepperdine into 15 first-half turnovers and rolled to an 82-56 West Coast Conference men’s basketball victory Thursday in front of another full house of 6,000 at the McCarthey Athletic Center. No. 6 Gonzaga (22-2, 9-0 WCC) has held its last seven opponents to 64 points or less. Four of Gonzaga’s last five opponents have failed to crack 40 percent shooting from the field, helping the Bulldogs rise to No. 61 nationally in field-goal percentage defense. Pepperdine (10-13, 2-8) made 27 percent of its shots in the first half and trailed 35-20.

The Bulldogs got 56 combined points from Pangos, Kelly Olynyk and Elias Harris, cruising to a businesslike 74-55 victory over Loyola Marymount in front of 6,000 at the McCarthey Athletic Center. The Bulldogs, after hoisting at least 20 3-point attempts in three of their previous four games, had success on the interior. Olynyk piled up 20 points, six rebounds and four assists. Harris added 16 points and 10 boards. The two combined to make 16 of 20 at the free-throw line.

Gonzaga spent most of the first half building up a nice lead only to see Saint Mary’s make a late push to take a one-point halftime lead. Gonzaga spent most of the second half reconstructing another nice lead only to see the Gaels fight back again. This time Gonzaga dug in with key defensive stops and daggers at the offensive end by Gary Bell Jr., Drew Barham, Sam Dower and Mike Hart, leading the fifth-ranked Bulldogs to a convincing 77-60 men’s basketball victory Thursday viewed by a crowd well in excess of the 3,500-seat capacity at McKeon Pavilion.

Elias Harris didn’t want his Gonzaga career to end without experiencing a victory at San Francisco’s cozy War Memorial Gym. So the senior forward, 0-3 in three previous trips here, enjoyed a soak-it-all-in moment walking off the court after the Bulldogs’ 71-61 men’s basketball victory over the scrappy Dons. Harris notched his 26th career double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. The Bulldogs made 10 of their first 12 field-goal attempts and shot out to a 15-point lead with the game barely 7 minutes old. But San Francisco rallied within 34-27 at half, pulled even at 47 and trailed just 53-52 with 7:10 remaining.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs probably set a season high for standing ovations Wednesday night. Some of the biggest praise came afterward from head coach Mark Few. The third-ranked Bulldogs dominated in just about every way possible, crushing Santa Clara 85-42 in front of a full house of 6,000 at the McCarthey Athletic Center. Gonzaga (26-2, 13-0 WCC) can clinch at least a share of the WCC title and the top seed in the conference tournament with a win over San Diego on Saturday.

The Bulldogs drubbed San Diego 81-50 at the McCarthey Athletic Center and clinched at least a share of the conference title and the top seed in the West Coast Conference tournament. The Bulldogs led San Diego 37-23 at the half – that’s the second-closest margin against a visiting WCC foe this season. Gonzaga’s two wins this week were by a combined 74 points over San Diego and Santa Clara, teams in the middle of the WCC standings. The Bulldogs shot in the mid-50 percent range in both games. They were in the 60s most of the way against the Toreros before finishing at 54.5.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs stated their case for the No. 1 ranking in college basketball by doing what they’ve done for most of the season. They defended, took care of the ball and came up with clutch baskets. Kelly Olynyk had another solid game. GU’s bench contributed 18 points. On this night, though, it was the second-ranked Bulldogs’ poise down the stretch that delivered a hard-fought 70-65 victory over BYU. “I couldn’t hear my own words,” said Harris, describing the volume level as BYU fought back from an 11-point deficit to tie it at 60 with 4:18 remaining.

The second-ranked Bulldogs thumped Portland 81-52 to finish off their first 16-0 WCC men’s basketball season. They moved closer to the program’s first 30-win season and they’re poised to earn the first No. 1 ranking in school history when the polls come out Monday. Along the way, they treated seniors Elias Harris, Mike Hart and Guy Landry Edi to a special afternoon in their final appearances at the McCarthey Athletic Center. Hart fought back tears when he was introduced in pregame ceremonies. He had a catch in his voice when he addressed the fans following the game.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs have gone where no Zags have gone before. The Bulldogs reached No. 1 in the AP men’s basketball poll Monday for the first time in program history. Gonzaga (29-2) received 51 first-place votes and 1,607 points to outdistance No. 2 Indiana (seven first-place votes, 1,517 points). “It’s a good feeling knowing people respect you and respect your game and what we’ve done so far,” said junior forward Kelly Olynyk, when asked after Saturday’s win over Portland about the possibility of being No. 1. “It’s not the end all. We still have to come out and play."