No. 10 Gonzaga routs Eastern Oregon in historic fashion – Sports Illustrated

The No. 10 Gonzaga Bulldogs defeated the visiting Eastern Oregon Mountaineers, 120-42, in a matinee contest on Wednesday.

The Zags (11-3) picked up their sixth straight win behind Drew Timme’s 18 points. Six other players scored in double-figures in what was the largest margin of victory in program history. Rasir Bolton put up 14 points while Nolan Hickman and Anton Watson added 13 apiece. Julian Strawther had 10 points and three steals.

For the Mountaineers (7-5), their two-game winning streak was snapped after committing 28 turnovers and shooting just 29.6% from the field. Malachi Afework led the way with 11 points as the only double-digit scorer for Eastern Oregon.

Gonzaga led by as many as 30 points in the first half as its defense forced 13 turnovers from the Mountaineers and scored 18 points off those mistakes.

With so many extra opportunities to score created by the defense, the Zags generated plenty of high-quality shots, including a combined 18 layups and dunks. The offense finished the first half with 38 points in the paint.

Thanks to a 27-8 run to close out the half, the Zags led 58-28 at the break while shooting 75% from the field. The Mountaineers’ offense, plagued by turnovers, shot 41.4% from the field.

With momentum on its side, Gonzaga continued to roll out of the locker room, outscoring Eastern Oregon 38-8 before a layup from Afework ended a seven-minute scoring drought.

Amid a 20-2 run midway through the half, Mark Few subbed in the rest of his rotation to close out the ballgame.

Led by Efton Reid III’s season-high 16 points, the bench accounted for 52 points, 39 of which came in the second half. Malachi Smith added 10 points as well.

The Zags are back in action on Saturday when they kick off West Coast Conference action against Pepperdine at 2 p.m. PST from the McCarthey Athletic Center.