The Gonzaga Bulldogs made sure the losing streak did not extend to three games as they demolished the Portland Pilots, 105-62, on Saturday evening.
- Ben Gregg was phenomenal in front of the home crowd. He was a perfect 10-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-4 from three, finishing with 24 points. A quick Stathead check and no Gonzaga player has shot 100% with at least 10 field goal attempts. Hats off to you Mr. Little Ben Gregg.
- There was a pretty substantial shakeup in the starting lineup. Graham Ike and Khalif Battle both started the game on the bench, replaced by Braden Huff and Emmanuel Innocenti. After two consecutive losses in which Gonzaga’s defense has absolutely plummeted, something had to change. Will this stick? Probably not, but sometimes all the message needs is one game.
- Michael Ajayi finished with 20 points and eight boards. He was active on offense, cutting well, and looking a whole lot more integrated than he was a few weeks ago. I’ve been a bit harsh on Ajayi, especially as of late. Gonzaga doesn’t need him to be the leading scorer, but if he is capable of at least 10 per game, it is another layer for this team on offense when the defense stalls out.
- Portland played admirably for the first 14 minutes of the game. At that point, the Pilots trailed just 28-23, but were only truly getting burned on points off turnovers. Then it all fell apart. In the final six minutes of the half, the Zags outscored the Pilots 21-6. Coming out of the second half, Gonzaga didn’t let their foot off the gas. Those particular sets of minutes have been problematic for Gonzaga throughout the season. Not tonight.
- Look, Portland is an awful team, but Gonzaga beat them exactly how they are supposed to. Gonzaga’s defense finished with a 89.7 efficiency mark by KenPom. After four-straight conference games of that sitting 100-plus, it was nice to see Gonzaga’s D go to work. The Zags finished with 26 points off of turnovers. Good defense leads to easy offense.