By Nicholas K. Geranios
The Associated Press
SPOKANE — Top-ranked Gonzaga struggled a bit in beating two of the best teams in the West Coast Conference last week, so coach Mark Few pushed his squad to step up its defense.
The undefeated Zags did just that.
Drew Timme scored 22 points and freshman Jalen Suggs came close to a triple-double as Gonzaga smothered Pacific 95-49 on Saturday night for its 19th consecutive victory dating to last season.
“I thought Drew was pretty dialed in,” Few said. “He gave a great effort on defense.”
Corey Kispert had 16 points and Joel Ayayi scored 12 for Gonzaga (15-0, 6-0 WCC), which won its 47th consecutive home game — the longest streak in the nation. Suggs finished with nine points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
Last week, Gonzaga had relatively close wins against Pepperdine and Saint Mary’s.
“We challenged them a little bit,” Few said. “We let our guard down in both games last week.”
Daniss Jenkins scored 17 points for Pacific (5-3, 2-2), which tried to play its slowdown game but was undone by poor shooting.
Gonzaga shot 49 percent while Pacific made just 27.9% of its attempts, including 2 of 16 from 3-point range.
“I thought we really challenged every shot tonight,” Few said. “The way we beat them on the glass (50-37) was a good sign also.”
Pacific coach Damon Stoudamire did not hold a virtual news conference after the game.
Timme scored 11 points as Gonzaga jumped to a 26-5 lead in less than eight minutes. Pacific made only two of its first 14 shots, while Gonzaga shot 60% in that span.
Pacific trailed 34-10 with just over eight minutes left in the first half. The Tigers made only four of their first 19 shots.
“We came in more focused,” said Timme, who shot 8 of 11 and grabbed seven rebounds. “We did a great job responding.”
Suggs scored to give Gonzaga a 52-21 lead at halftime. The 31-point margin was built on 53% shooting, along with seven 3-pointers. Pacific shot just 27% in the first period and committed 10 turnovers.
Gonzaga opened the second half with a 15-4 run, and Kispert’s 3-pointer pushed the lead to 67-25.
Few said the team realized Suggs was close to completing the second triple-double in program history, but he couldn’t quite get there. “We were trying and he was trying too hard, actually,” Few said.
There is still a chance to reschedule Gonzaga’s game against No. 2 Baylor that was called off earlier this season due to COVID-19 issues, Few said. The problem remains finding a mutually agreeable date during conference play. “We’re flexible and ready,” Few said.
Timme said the team does indeed talk about finishing the regular season undefeated. “We’re a competitive bunch. All we want to do is win,” he explained. “We just want to win every game. Every chance we want to prove we are the best.”
Gonzaga visits San Diego on Thursday.
Colorado 70, Washington State 59
PULLMAN — Evan Battey had 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting, McKinley Wright IV added all 12 of his points in the second half, and Colorado rallied from an 18-point, first-half deficit to beat Washington State 70-59 on Saturday night.
The Buffaloes (12-4, 6-3 Pac 12) opened the second half with a 19-6 run to take a 49-43 lead on Maddox Daniels’ 3-pointer with 10:51 left.
The Cougars stopped the run briefly and then Jabari Walker scored eight and Wright added six of Colorado’s 14 straight points to build its biggest lead at 66-48.
D’Shawn Schwartz added 11 points and Walker had nine. Wright added seven rebounds and five assists.
Isaac Bonton scored nine of his 21 points in the first eight minutes of the game while the Cougars (9-6, 2-6) made nine of their first 10 shots and jumped to a 23-5 lead. The Buffaloes made 2 of 11 shots during the same stretch.
Noah Williams added 16 points and Dishon Jackson had 10 for Washington State, which had its losing streak extend to five games.
Colorado returns to Boulder for a five-game home stand starting with a rematch with Washington State on Wednesday.
