Ryan Nembhard’s 22 leads six players in double figures as Gonzaga beats Cal State Bakersfield 81-65

Gonzaga weathered a slow offensive stretch in the first half and eventually pulled away from Cal State Bakersfield for a 81-65 win on Tuesday night at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Six Gonzaga players scored in double figures to help the Bulldogs improve to 5-1 on the season and win their first game back home since returning from last week’s Maui Invitational.

Transfer point guard Ryan Nembhard was Gonzaga’s top scorer for the first time this season, totaling 22 points on 8 of 11 shooting while dishing out five assists. The Bulldogs got double-digit scoring nights from freshmen Braden Huff (12) and Dusty Stromer (10), Nolan Hickman had 13 points and Graham Ike and Anton Watson joined the double-digit club with 11 points apiece. Watson hauled down 13 rebounds to match his career-high in that category.

Cal State Bakersfield’s Kaleb Higgins led the Roadrunners with 21 points on 8 of 19 shooting while Modestas Kancleris made 6 of 8 from the field to finish with 12 points.

The Zags and Roadrunners both went through extended offensive droughts in the first half of Tuesday’s game. For a seven-minute stretch, Gonzaga missed 11 straight shots from the field – the Bulldogs’ only points during that span coming from four Ike free throws.

The Roadrunners were unable to cut into the deficit, though, going more than eight-and-a-half minutes themselves without a field goal. Gonzaga was able to grow its lead to 20 points midway through the second half when Cal State Bakersfield went 5 minutes, 18 seconds without scoring from the field.

The 11th-ranked Zags now turn their attention to another marquee nonconference matchup, Saturday against USC at the MGM Grand Garden Area in Las Vegas (7 p.m., ESPN).