After three tough road wins, Gonzaga returned to Kennel friendly range and utterly destroyed the Portland Pilots 115-75, with GU posting a very impressive 7-10 from deep. It was led by Malachi Smith with 27 points, including . Drew out in his last 16 minutes Tim added his 18 points, Anton Watson added his 12 points and he had 7 rebounds, and Hunter Salis dropped his 7 dimes. Portland led with 18 points by Moses Wood and Christian Sholand had his 12 rebounds.
The game was essentially over by the end of the first half, with Zags taking a 61–28 lead into the locker room. Gonzaga finally stepped up on defense and Portland’s offense was never synchronized. The Pilots missed their first 10 three-point attempts, committed 12 first-half turnovers, seven steals, and scored 26 Gonzaga points.
On the defensive end, Portland seemed to try to stop Tim, filling the paint with four players every time he touched the ball. It obviously didn’t work. By abandoning perimeter defense, Zag was able to hit nine 3-pointers in the first half on 53% shooting over the arc. Gonzaga did a great job distributing the ball with 11 assists in the first half.
Gonzaga started the second half on cruise control and the most exciting part was Tacowatch. After Anton Watson fouled his third, Mark Few tried his four-guard lineup of Tim, Bolton, Salis, Smith and Hickman. With Watson filling in for Tim, the ‘smallest balls’ line-up had a solid run.
The game turned into a three-point shooting contest when Gonzaga extended his lead to 40 (Gonzaga won 17-11). The only drama was who would clear the benches first. Dom Harris and Efton Reid entered the game at his 6:50, giving us a glimpse of a potential lineup for next year with Reid, Gregg, Sallis, Harris and Smith (he’s Malachi for another year). . Abe his eagle put a smile on my face and he got into the game with a minute left and hit his only shot.
Gonzaga finished the game with an impressive 12 steals and 22 assists.
Gonzaga’s respite from tense matches should continue next week, as he faces the LMU on Thursday at 6pm and the Pacific on Saturday at 7pm. With both games taking place at his KHQ, you’ll have to accommodate your favorite unveiling trio.
