Ben Gregg came off the bench and scored a career-high 22 minutes as No. 24 Gonzaga cruised to a 101-74 victory against San Diego in a West Coast Conference game Saturday night in Spokane, Wash.
Graham Ike scored 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor and grabbed eight rebounds for the Bulldogs (11-4, 2-0 WCC). Ryan Nembhard added 18 points, nine assists, six rebounds and four steals and Nolan Hickman scored 17. Gregg also contributed seven rebounds and four steals in 25 minutes.
Deuce Turner scored a game-high 24 points for the Toreros (10-7, 0-2). Kevin Patton Jr. scored 16, Steven Jamerson II had 13 points and nine rebounds and PJ Hayes scored 12.
Gonzaga beat the Toreros for the 17th consecutive meeting overall and the 24th straight time at home.
The Bulldogs never trailed. There were two ties, the last at 10-all with 16:34 left in the first half.
With Gonzaga up 14-13, Gregg stole a pass near midcourt and finished with a dunk, sparking nine consecutive points as part of a 22-5 run as the Bulldogs pulled away.
Gregg had another steal and scored to increase Gonzaga’s lead to 24 points, 55-31, with 1:46 left in the half.
Hickman and Ike each scored 15 points in the first half.
After trailing 55-35 at the break, Turner scored USD’s first eight points of the second half on a turnaround jumper and two 3-pointers to pull the Toreros within 59-43 with 17:22 left. But that was as close as they would get after the intermission.
The Bulldogs led by as many as 30 points, 87-57, with 8:09 left.
The victory was the 699th in the career of Gonzaga coach Mark Few.
The Bulldogs wore royal blue uniforms to honor the 1994-95 season, the school’s first time reaching the NCAA Tournament.
–Field Level Media