Gonzaga 88, Loyola Marymount 43
LOS ANGELES -- Guard Gary Bell Jr. and 7-foot center Kelly Olynyk scored 15 points apiece to lead No. 7 Gonzaga to an 88-43 romp over Loyola Marymount in a West Coast Conference game Thursday night before 3,952 fans at Gersten Pavilion.
The Bulldogs (20-2, 7-0 WCC) won their third in a row since a 64-63 loss at Butler on Jan. 19. Gonzaga's only other setback was against Illinois.
Loyola Marymount (8-13, 1-7) dropped its fifth straight.
Gonzaga ran away from the Lions with a dominating first half and never was threatened. Sizzling first-half shooting and a strong rebounding performance helped the Bulldogs bolt to a big lead midway through the first half, and it was practically over at that point.
The rout allowed Gonzaga coach Mark Few to give quality minutes to his reserves. Gonzaga's bench produced 47 points -- more than Loyola Marymount's full-team total.
Bulldogs forward Sam Dower and guard Drew Barham came off the bench to score 13 points apiece. Olynyk also had two blocks, two steals and six rebounds.
Lions guard Anthony Ireland finished with a game-high 19 points. No other Loyola Marymount player managed to score in double figures.
After a 3-pointer by Ireland cut Gonzaga's lead to 19-14 with 10:38 remaining, the Bulldogs went on a 27-4 spurt to end the half with a 46-18 advantage.
Bell, who entered the night averaging 8.6 points per game, converting five of six 3-point attempts. Dower scored nine points in the first half.
Gonzaga hit eight of 13 attempts from behind the arc (61.5 percent) in the first half, while the Lions made just four of 13 (30.8 percent) from long distance before intermission.
Overall, the Bulldogs made 16 of 28 first-half shot attempts (57.1 percent) while limiting the Lions to 6-for-25 shooting (24 percent).
For the game, Gonzaga shot 54.4 percent, while Loyola Marymount hit just 25 percent of its shots.
Gonzaga also posted a considerable edge in the rebounding department before halftime, 22-12. Eight of the Bulldogs' first-half boards came on the offensive end.
Bulldogs reserve Przemek Karnowski finished with a game-high eight rebounds, helping Gonzaga post a 46-31 rebounding advantage.
NOTES: The Bulldogs have claimed wins in 35 of their past 38 contests with the Lions. ... Gonzaga's only losses this season have been to Illinois and No. 9 Butler. ... The Bulldogs have recorded double-digit wins in each of their past four conference games. ... Seventeen scouts, including representatives from the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors and Utah Jazz, attended the game.
