No. 5 Gonzaga remained the only undefeated team in the nation, recording a 79-56 win over No. 21 Saint Mary's on Saturday at Spokane, Wash., in a showdown between the top West Coast Conference programs.
The top three scorers for the Bulldogs (17-0, 5-0 WCC) were transfers experiencing the rivalry with the Gaels for the first time.
Guards Nigel Williams-Goss (19 points, six assists) and Jordan Mathews (16 points) and forward Johnathan Williams (14 points, five blocked shots) were pivotal in the victory. The Bulldogs outscored Saint Mary's 21-4 down the stretch to pull away.
"I came here to play for this moment right here," said Williams, a transfer from Missouri. "The important thing is to stay humble, dedicated and focused on the process."
Williams-Goss, who transferred from Washington, added, "We wanted to send a message. We heard a lot of chatter of them coming in here and getting a win. We wanted to shut that down."
Forward Calvin Hermanson led Saint Mary's (15-2, 5-1) with 12 points. The Gaels shot only 39.7 percent from the field while Gonzaga shot 64.7 percent.
Entering the game, the Gaels allowed opponents to shoot only 40.8 percent from the field and 30.3 percent from 3-point range. Gonzaga made 7 of 13 (53.8 percent) from beyond the arc, led by Mathews, a former California player who made 4 of 6 long-distance shots.
"Our defense fueled our offense," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "We challenged shots and got our hands on loose balls. We kept their guards (Emmett Naar and Joe Rahon) in check (combined 5 of 20 from the field). That was important."
The Gaels' leading scorer this season, center Jock Landale, was whistled for his fourth foul with 10:46 left in regulation and Gonzaga leading 54-47. At that point, Landale had 10 points and five rebounds.
He returned with 7:48 remaining and Saint Mary's trailing 60-52, but that did not have a favorable impact for the Gaels.
Gonzaga proceeded to score 14 unanswered points to pull away. Center Przemek Karnowski had six points in that stretch, and Williams added four. The Bulldogs attacked the paint, knowing Landale had to avoid the fifth foul.
Landale fouled out with 3:27 left and Gonzaga ahead 67-52. He finished with 10 points and six boards.
"It should have been a good game, but we didn't do our part to finish it," Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett said.
A layup by Naar put Saint Mary's ahead 32-31 with 4:37 left in the first half. Up to then, the game had six lead changes and four ties. Neither team led by more than six points.
A 12-0 run put Gonzaga ahead 43-32 with 1:04 left in the half. Rahon made a jump shot on the next possession to close the scoring in the half.
Mathews started the surge with a 3-pointer and finished with 11 points by halftime.
Saint Mary's had a 10-2 run to open the second half and cut the lead to 48-44. The sequence was capped by a jump shot by Landale. He scored eight of the Gaels' first 10 points in the second half.
Gonzaga played through two health concerns in the first half.
Karnowski cut his right arm diving for a loose ball but continued playing after his arm was bandaged and wrapped. Guard Josh Perkins ran to the locker room with 5:23 left in the first half with a leg injury. Perkins returned with 13:49 left in the second half.
NOTES:
-- Saint Mary's still holds a 4-3 series edge when facing Gonzaga while the Gaels were ranked. The previous such meeting was the 2012 West Coast Conference tournament championship game, won 78-74 in overtime by the Gaels.
-- The Bulldogs ruled the second half for the fourth game in a row. Gonzaga outscored its opponents 184-113, an average of 46-28, in the second half in that span.
-- Entering the game, Saint Mary's was holding opponents to 56.6 points per game. The Gaels were first in the WCC and third in the nation in that category.
-- Gonzaga is the highest-scoring team in the WCC, averaging 86 points a game before Saturday despite not having a player rank any higher than 12th among the conference scoring leaders.
-- This is only the sixth season in program history that the Bulldogs were ranked inside the top five.
