The Zags made their first 15 shots from the field in a 101-40 rout of Denver. Gonzaga shot 68.4 percent as Rui Hachimura and Brandon Clarke combined for 46 points on 19-for-21 accuracy.
SPOKANE – Rui Hachimura was perfect from the field and missed just one free throw, but what he really wanted to talk about was his defense.
“I think we played good defense first,” Hachimura said. “Right now, we are more focused on defensive stuff.”
Hachimura scored 23 points on 9-of-9 shooting, Brandon Clarke also had 23 and No. 8 Gonzaga routed Denver 101-40 on Friday night. The 61-point margin of victory is a program record.
Gonzaga held Denver to 24.6 percent shooting, including 2 of 18 from three-point range.
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The Zags were plenty efficient on offense, too, making their first 15 shots from the field to jump to a 36-6 lead.
“That’s good,” said Hachimura, who was aware of his shooting streak.
“I saw the board. It said 100 percent,” he said. “Oh, yeah.”
Corey Kispert added 13 points and Zach Norvell Jr. scored 12 for Gonzaga (11-2).
Troy Stewart-Miller scored 10 points for Denver (5-9).
Clarke made 10 of 12 field goals as Gonzaga shot 68.4 percent.
“Our ball pressure made some things happen,” coach Mark Few said, adding the perimeter defense “took away their main scorers.”
Few said he didn’t realize the Zags sank their first 15 shots.
“I was ticked off about turnovers,” Few said of the 13 turnovers recorded by his team.
Denver missed its first 11 shots and did not score for the first six minutes, falling behind 18-0.
“We always talk about getting a really, really good start,” Clarke said. “Just to make the game a lot easier for us.”
Gonzaga led 56-19 at halftime after shooting 84.6 percent (22 of 26) from the floor. Hachimura scored all his points in the first half.
The Pioneers shot 21.4 percent in the first half (6 of 28).
Denver made a 9-2 run early in the second to cut Gonzaga’s lead to 63-28, but the Zags soon had the lead back at 40 points.
“This will launch us into a well-deserved break for this squad,” Few said of the week off for Christmas. “We’ve got to regenerate the batteries.”
Gonzaga won the rebounding battle 42-29, led by Clarke’s seven.
Other games
• Cody Benzel scored 23 points, including a career-high tying seven three-pointers, to lead host Eastern Washington past NAIA Corban of Salem, Ore., 92-73.
Eastern (2-9) snapped a six-game losing streak.
• In games involving Pac-12 men’s teams, Kent State beat Oregon State 66-63; Baylor defeated Oregon 57-47; California got past San Jose State 88-80; Utah downed Northern Arizona 76-62; and USC overwhelmed Southern Utah 91-49.
• Ruthy Hebard scored 23 points on 11-for-12 shooting and had 15 rebounds, Sabrina Ionescu added her NCAA-record 14th triple-double and the No. 7 Oregon women beat visiting UC Irvine 115-69. The Ducks (11-1), the nation’s top scoring team, matched their season high for points while shooting 64.9 percent.
Satou Sabally led Oregon with 27 points. Ionescu had 13 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds.
• Alanna Smith scored 30 points and No. 8 Stanford pulled away to beat Buffalo 62-55 in Amherst, N.Y.
• In other games involving Pac-12 women, Utah beat Hawaii 73-48 and Arizona beat Northern Arizona 71-47.