By Malika Andrews |
Gonzaga’s Kyle Wiltjer and Domantas Sabonis did it all: They nailed 3-pointers, hit mid-range jumpers and snagged rebounds, erasing any doubt that the Bulldogs are, in fact, the defending WCC champions. The Zags beat the Pilots 94-66 in the Chiles Center on Thursday night thanks to the 6’10” Wiltjer and the 6’11” Sabonis.
This was a game of big men and Portland was simply outsized and outmatched against Gonzaga’s talented frontcourt tandem.
“When you’re preparing for Gonzaga, you’re focusing on their bigs,” junior Jarrel Marshall said. “We wanted to limit them because they got off on us last time. I think we did a good job on Sabonis but Wiltjer was able to get going with a 3-point shot.”
Indeed, Wiltjer led the Bulldogs with 21 and seven rebounds, and he hit five 3-pointers, more than the entire Pilots team combined. Sabonis recorded a double-double, finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Eric McClellan and Silas Melson added 14 and 13 points, respectively, for Gonzaga.
As a team, the Bulldogs finished shooting 53 percent from the field and 15-of-26 from the 3-point line.
“It’s hard to beat a team when they hit 15 threes,” Marshall said.
The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for the Pilots and dropped their conference record to 6-9. The Bulldogs improve to 12-2 in conference.
Gonzaga’s hot shooting helped silence a Chiles Center crowd that came out yelling and screaming. By the time the Zags built a 25-point lead, only a few voices were still making noise.
Marshall led all scorers and recorded a new career-high with 25 points on 11-of-18 shooting. He also grabbed three rebounds. Point guard Alec Wintering, who leads Portland in scoring by averaging 19 points per game, was held to only 11 points in Thursday’s defeat.
Portland, who entered the game leading the WCC in made 3-point shots (9.6 per game) shot only nine percent from beyond the arc in the first half and finished 3-of-22 from three. That cold shooting, plus Gonzaga’s potent perimeter attack, proved to be the difference.
Wiltjer hit a 3-pointer to beat the shot clock and put the Zags up 44-35 at the half.
Eric McClellen and Wiltjer hit four consecutive 3-pointers to open the second half stretching Gonzaga’s lead to 20 points. The Pilots did not score for the first three minutes and 30 seconds after the intermission.
The reserves for both teams entered the game with just over two minutes remaining.
Up next, the Pilots face St. Mary’s at 7 p.m. on Thursday Feb. 18 in the Chiles Center.
Malika Andrews is the sports editor for The Beacon. She can be reached at andrewsm17@up.edu or on Twitter @malika_andrews.
