CALIFORNIA – The Gonzaga Bulldog Men’s Basketball team avenged one of their losses from earlier this season Thursday night with a 108-65 road victory over Loyola Marymount. In the game, the Bulldogs scored a season high 68 points in the first half and at one point in the contest led by as many as 51.
Earlier this season, the Lions upset the then #6 Bulldogs 68-67, snapping Gonzaga’s 75-game home winning streak at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
In Thursday night’s rematch, it was clear the Bulldogs wanted to make a statement. It was pure domination from the start, as the Bulldogs forced a turnover on the Lions opening possession before Julian Strawther knocked down a three-pointer on the other end.
With the score at 5-4 in the opening minutes, Mark Few’s team went to another level. Over the next four minutes, Gonzaga would go on a 20-0 run to blow the game wide open (25-4). The offensive avalanche was triggered by four steals and two blocks on the defensive end to help Gonzaga push the action in transition.
The scoring run would eventually come to an end, but the relentless pressure from The Zags did not. Gonzaga continued to control the first half on both sides of the ball, turning that once 20-point lead into a 40-point lead by the time the two teams headed into the locker room for halftime. Malachi Smith ended the first half with a late steal and emphatic dunk to put the exclamation point on a 68-point first half.
In the second half, Gonzaga would balloon the lead up to as many as 51 points. When the final whistle sounded, it was Gonzaga walking away with a 108-65 victory.
Over the course of the game, the Bulldog defense forced 19 turnovers and had 10 steals, while holding the Lions to 21-54 (38.9%) shooting from the field.
Offensively, the Bulldogs shot an incredibly efficient 40-66 (60.6%) from the field and 8-17 (47.1%) from behind the arc.
Gonzaga had five different scorers reach double-digits, led by Julian Strawther and his game high 30. Anton Watson (16pts), Drew Timme (13pts), Malachi Smith (13pts) and Rasir Bolton (12pts) were the others to score 10+.
The #13 Bulldogs now move to 22-5 on the season, and 11-2 in the West Coast Conference.
