Local Teams

Corey Kispert scored a game-high 23 points Thursday night as No. 1 Gonzaga continued its early-season domination, opening a 32-point lead at one point while rolling to an 86-69 West Coast Conference victory over visiting BYU in Spokane, Wash.

In improving their record to 11-0 overall and 2-0 in the conference, the Bulldogs also got 16 points from Jalen Suggs, plus 12 each from Drew Timme and backup guard Andrew Nembhard. Suggs added five rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Caleb Lohner and Matt Haarms scored 13 points apiece for the Cougars (9-3, 0-1), who were playing their conference opener after three consecutive postponements due to COVID-19 protocols involving opponents.

BYU leading scorer Alex Barcello, who averages 16.5 points per game, managed just nine points on 3 of 11 shooting.

BYU was the last team to beat Gonzaga, doing so last February at home. Thursday's game was even more challenging since it was set up earlier in the week. Santa Clara was unavailable to face Gonzaga on Thursday and Pacific was not able to face BYU because of COVID-19 protocols bringing the two programs together.

BYU had not played since Dec. 23 and it showed. Gonzaga got a Kispert 3-pointer just 1:44 into the game to grab an 8-0 lead. After Barcello converted a jumper for BYU, Gonzaga promptly ripped off 15 straight points for a 23-2 advantage.

Nembhard capped that run with a 3-pointer off Kispert's feed for the 21-point cushion with 12:58 still remaining in the first half. The Cougars were able to make one significant push after the margin reached 23, closing within 39-26 with four minutes left in the half on a 3-pointer by Lohner.

But the Zags ended the game's competitive phase by going on a 13-0 spurt in the next three minutes. Kispert's layup upped the margin to 52-26, and Gonzaga led 52-29 at halftime.

The advantage reached 30 just over 5 1/2 minutes into the second half when Nembhard drilled his fourth 3-pointer of the night.

--Field Level Media