Box Score
Pilots Fall at No. 2 Gonzaga to Conclude Regular Season
SPOKANE, Wash. --- The No. 2 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs completed a perfect West Coast Conference season and may have earned their first No. 1 ranking in school history with an 81-52 victory over the Portland Pilots Saturday afternoon at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
The Bulldogs (29-2, 16-0 WCC) won their 12th consecutive game of the season and, with No. 1 Indiana losing earlier this week, may move into the top spot in both the Associated Press and Coaches Polls when they are released on Monday. It is the fourth time that Gonzaga has completed an undefeated WCC season.
The Pilots (11-20, 4-12) finish the regular season in eighth place in the WCC standings and will open the WCC Basketball Championships with a first round game against ninth-place LMU on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
Senior point guard Derrick Rodgers finished with a team-high 10 points for the Pilots, while junior forward Ryan Nicholas added nine points and nine rebounds.
Senior forward Elias Harris finished with a game high 20 points and nine rebounds, while junior forward Kelly Olynyk added 15 points and 11 rebounds to pace the Bulldogs.
Portland drilled a trio of early three-pointers to take a 9-7 lead, but the Bulldogs used a 19-3 run capped by a dunk from senior Elias Harris to push the margin to double digits. Gonzaga made it 46-21 with 3:11 remaining, but the Pilots closed the period with back-to-back three-pointers from Derrick Rodgers and Bryce Pressley for a 46-27 halftime deficit.
Portland scored on its opening possession of the second half, but Gonzaga would push the margin to as much as 34 points late in the game.
Gonzaga outscored the Pilots 42-10 in the paint for the game and had a 15-0 margin in fast break points. The Pilots struggled to 29 percent shooting from the field for the game, while Gonzaga finished at 49 percent overall.
Wednesday’s first round WCC Tournament game against LMU will be televised live on BYUtv and the Portland radio broadcast with begin at 5:30 p.m. on True Talk 800 AM. The winner will move on to face No. 5-seeded San Francisco on Thursday at 6 p.m.
