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Oct. 30—Mark Few urged Gonzaga to tighten things up on the defensive end of the floor after the Bulldogs listlessly gave up 96 points to USC during Saturday’s exhibition in Palm Desert, California.
The message sunk in for Gonzaga at about the 10-minute mark of Wednesday’s exhibition against Warner Pacific — an NAIA club from Portland — at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
That’s when the Bulldogs ripped off their largest run of the game — fueled by a slew of Warner Pacific turnovers — and kept the momentum going the rest of the way to pick up a 109-52 victory in their final tune-up before Monday’s season opener against Baylor.
Gonzaga was leading 21-19 when a lineup featuring Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, Dusty Stromer, Michael Ajayi and Graham Ike went on a 12-0 scoring spree that eventually turned into a 36-3 run with 2 minutes, 25 seconds remaining in the first half.
After leading by two points with 10 minutes, 38 seconds remaining, the Zags proceeded to lead 64-27 at halftime and score 88 of the final 121 points.
They forced 23 turnovers from Warner Pacific, including seven during one 7-minute span in the first half, and held the Knights to 19 of 62 from the field.
Hickman accounted for seven of GU’s first 14 points and led the Zags in scoring with 19 points. Ajayi and Braden Huff both finished with 14 points, Nembhard had nine points and seven assists, Ben Gregg had eight points to go with 11 rebounds and Graham Ike finished with 11 points along with eight rebounds.