GAMEDAY Mens Basketball
Gonzaga 87, Saint Mary's 65
(AP Photo/Young Kwak)
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS
Associated Press
SPOKANE, Wash. - Corey Kispert scored 20 points, Joel Ayayi added 16 and top-ranked Gonzaga beat cold-shooting Saint Mary's 87-65 on Thursday night, extending the nation's longest winning streak to 25 games over the past two seasons.
Drew Timme scored 12 points to help Gonzaga (21-0, 12-0 West Coast) extend its home winning streak to 48 games. Fans were allowed at a Gonzaga home game for the first time this season and a few dozen family members of players were in the stands.
Judah Brown scored 16 points, and Logan Johnson had 13 for Saint Mary's (11-7, 2-5). The Gaels are typically one of Gonzaga's arch-rivals but are having a down season made worse by prolonged COVID-19 closures.
Gonzaga has won 18 consecutive games by double digits. That's the longest streak within a season by an Associated Press No. 1 team since UNLV won 19 games in a row by 10 or more in 1990-91.
Gonzaga never trailed, jumping to a 17-6 lead in the opening minutes.
The big blow was a 19-2 run late in the first that pushed their lead to 46-18.
The Zags led 51-24 at halftime, behind 14 points from Kispert and 11 from Ayayi.
The Gaels were hurt by 36% shooting in the first, including 1 of 11 from 3-point range, and 12 turnovers. Gonzaga shot a blistering 61% in the first and committed only four turnovers.
Andrew Nembhard had six points as Gonzaga opened the second half with a 10-0 run for a 61-24 lead to put the game out of reach.
February 18, 2021
(AP Photo/Young Kwak)
| Saint Mary's | ||||||||||
| Player | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| L. Johnson | 5-10 | 3-3 | 0-2 | 0-3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 13 |
| D. Fotu | 2-5 | 2-2 | 1-4 | 1-6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| T. Kuhse | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| K. Bowen | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1-5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| M. Tass | 4-10 | 4-5 | 0-1 | 1-3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 12 |
| J. Brown | 6-10 | 0-0 | 4-6 | 2-3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 16 |
| M. Saxen | 5-7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| A. Ducas | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| J. Mullins | 1-5 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Q. Clinton | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 25-55 (.455) |
9-10 (.900) |
6-20 (.300) |
9-27 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 18 | 20 | 65 |
| Gonzaga | ||||||||||
| Player | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| A. Nembhard | 4-7 | 1-1 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| J. Ayayi | 6-8 | 0-0 | 4-5 | 2-6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| C. Kispert | 8-13 | 3-4 | 1-4 | 0-3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 20 |
| J. Suggs | 3-6 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| D. Timme | 5-7 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
| A. Cook | 1-3 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| A. Watson | 3-4 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| D. Harris | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| J. Strawther | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| O. Ballo | 0-1 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| B. Gregg | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| M. Arlauskas | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M. Lang | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| W. Graves | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 33-54 (.611) |
13-17 (.765) |
8-14 (.571) |
7-29 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 14 | 87 |