Saint Mary's Gaels vs Gonzaga Bulldogs Box Score on Feb 18, 2021

Corey Kispert scored a game-high 20 points Thursday night as No. 1 Gonzaga established a 27-point halftime lead en route to an 87-65 West Coast Conference rout of Saint Mary's in Spokane, Wash.

In upping their record to 21-0 overall and 12-0 in the conference, the Bulldogs also got 16 points from Jay Ajayi, 12 from Drew Timme and 10 out of Andrew Nembhard. Gonzaga canned 61.1 percent of its field goal attempts and scored 44 points in the paint.

Reserve Judah Brown scored 16 points to pace the Gaels (11-7, 2-5), while Logan Johnson added 13. Inconsistent shooting once again plagued Saint Mary's, as it only managed to convert 36 percent of its field goals in the decisive first half before canning 53.3 percent in the meaningless second half.

The Gaels actually gave the Zags a real tussle for a half in their first meeting last month, holding a 10-point lead at one point before Gonzaga finally took control late in the half and breezed to a 73-59 win.

That was the Zags' lowest-scoring game of the year, but this wasn't close to that script. They jumped on Saint Mary's with two feet, establishing a 17-6 lead just 6:26 into the game when Nembhard stole and dunked.

When Ajayi canned a 3-pointer at the 11:31 mark for a 24-12 advantage, Gonzaga had put the lead in double figures for the game's remainder. ESPN's announcers were cranking up the blowout material before the first half was over.

The margin reached 20 with 5:06 left on a Nembhard jumper and became 51-24 at halftime, thanks to Jalen Suggs' short jumper.

There was no mercy from the Bulldogs to open the second half. They ripped off 10 straight points, taking a 61-24 advantage on Ajayi's dunk that forced the Gaels' third timeout in less than 24 minutes.

Gonzaga upped the margin to 38 points on Timme's layup with 13:51 left. Saint Mary's made the margin look flattering against a collection of reserves down the stretch.

--Field Level Media