Gonzaga 71, Portland 49
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Kelly Olynyk scored 21 points and Kevin Pangos had 14 to lead eighth-ranked Gonzaga past Portland 71-49 Thursday night in a West Coast Conference basketball game.
Elias Harris added 10 points and nine rebounds. The Bulldogs (17-1, 4-0 WCC) stretched their winning streak to seven games and moved into a first-place tie with San Diego.
Kevin Bailey scored 16 points and freshman Oskars Reinfelds had 12 for Portland (8-11, 1-3), which has lost 19 in a row to Gonzaga and 35 of the past 36 meetings.
Olynyk, limited to six minutes and two points in the first half after drawing two early fouls, sank 8 of 9 shots from the field. The 7-foot junior ranked seventh in the nation at 66.2 percent shooting before Thursday.
Gonzaga outrebounded Portland 36-22 and forced 17 turnovers.
Gonzaga raced to a 16-2 lead against cold-shooting, turnover-prone Portland. Reinfelds came off the bench to score the next six points, however, and the Pilots wound up trailing 36-26 at the half.
Pangos scored 11 in the first half despite drawing two fouls and playing just 14 minutes. Olynyk, who averaged 26.7 points in Gonzaga's first three WCC games, drew two early fouls and had just two points in six minutes in the half.
NOTES: Gonzaga takes on No. 13 Butler (15-2), winner of 12 consecutive games, on Saturday in Indianapolis. ESPN televises the game at 9 p.m. EST from Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse, where the championship game in the classic basketball movie "Hoosiers" was filmed. Butler said leading scorer Rotnei Clarke (16.3) will miss the game with a neck injury. Gonzaga recruited Clarke out of high school and again after the senior guard elected to transfer from Arkansas following the 2010-11 season. ... Louisville transfer Angel Nunez has enrolled at Gonzaga, but he has yet to be cleared for practice because of post-concussion symptoms. The concussion issues prevented Nunez from playing for the top-ranked Cardinals this season. He will be eligible to play for the Bulldogs at the end of fall semester in December. The 6-foot-8, 200-pound Nunez, who might play forward or guard, averaged 2.0 points, 0.7 rebounds and 4.6 minutes for Louisville last season. The New York City native helped Notre Dame Prep (his third school in four years) of Fitchburg, Mass., reach the title game in the 2010-11 national prep tournament. He averaged 13.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots as a senior. Scout.com ranked Nunez the 25th-best college prospect among senior small forwards.
