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 "He's far and away the best all-around player in the league,"
Dunlap said after Pangos sparked an 80-51 romp for the third-ranked
Bulldogs. A 20-0 start fueled Gonzaga's 18th consecutive win.
Pangos wasn't one of the four Bulldogs who scored in double figures,
but the heady senior collected nine points, eight assists and two
steals in 29 minutes.
"He looks like a choir boy and hits like an assassin," Dunlap joked.
Forward Kyle Wiltjer led the Bulldogs (25-1, 13-0 WCC) with 21
points and 10 rebounds. Wiltjer and Pangos are two of the 20 players
on the latest Watch List for the John Wooden Award as national
player of the year.
Dunlap said "a cocktail mix" of Gonzaga's talent and a sellout crowd
of 6,000 overwhelmed his young team. The Lions (8-18, 4-10) lost
their 12th straight to the Bulldogs, and they fell for the 25th time
in a row at Gonzaga.
Guard David Humphries (11 points) was the only Loyola Marymount
player with more than eight points.
The Bulldogs led 44-15 at the half after holding the Lions to 12
percent shooting from the field (3-for-25). Gonzaga played sloppily
at times after building a 27-4 lead before the Lions scored their
first field goal 12 minutes into the game.
"It's difficult to stay focused (with a huge early lead)," Gonzaga
guard Eric McClellan admitted.
"We played really solid defensively (early)," Wiltjer said.
McClellan, a junior transfer from Vanderbilt, said he is comfortable
coming off the bench for the Bulldogs. He has played six games since
becoming eligible and then overcoming a foot injury.
"I don't think we have a true weakness," McClellan said. "We can
shoot, we can finish, we're athletic."
The Bulldogs, who lead the nation with in field-goal shooting at 53
percent, shot 49.1 percent against the Lions and held Loyola
Marymount to 29.4 percent. Gonzaga recorded 19 assists on 26 field
goals.
"We're an unselfish group," McClellan said. "We like playing with
one another, and we play well with one another. That's hard to find
in college basketball with a group as talented as this."
Forward Domantas Sabonis and center Przemek Karnowski dominated the
smaller Lions inside. Sabonis had 10 points and eight rebounds, and
Karnowski added 11 points and five boards. Guard Byron Wesley also
scored 11 points for the Bulldogs.
"We're as balanced as we've ever been," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said.
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Gonzaga outrebounded Loyola Marymount 46-30 and outscored the Lions
34-10 in the paint. The Bulldogs stretched their home winning streak
to 39, the longest such streak in NCAA Division I men's basketball.
ESPN ranks Sabonis, a 6-foot-10 freshman, the 29th-best prospect for
the 2015 NBA draft. Sabonis played two years of pro ball without pay
in Spain, but he says he is not interested in going to the NBA after
one year as a top reserve for Gonzaga.
"Not this year," he said. "I think I'm not ready. I still need to
develop my game in many ways."
Gonzaga's lead grew so large so quickly at the start of the game
that a smattering of fans in the student section -- notoriously hard
on visiting teams -- applauded politely when the Lions scored their
first point after 8:08. Loyola Marymount was 0-for-14 from the field
before guard Ayodeji Egbeyemi sank a 14-foot jumper.
NOTES: Gonzaga PG Kevin Pangos was selected one of 10 finalists for
the Senior CLASS Award for men's basketball. Seniors are honored for
good work on and off the court. Pangos, a four-year starter on Top
25 teams at Gonzaga, carries a 3.18 grade-point average and has been
involved in community service. ... Four starters and eight of Loyola
Marymount's 15 players are foreigners. First-year coach Mike Dunlap
brought in two players from Australia. A former Lions player, Dunlap
spent three years as a head coach in Australia's top pro league from
1994-97. He was head coach of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats (now
Hornets) in 2012-13. ... Dunlap, an avid runner, once completed a
100-mile race through the Sierra Nevada mountains. He hopes to climb
Mount Everest in the future. ... Former Gonzaga star Robert Sacre,
now playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, took advantage of the NBA
All-Star break to attend Thursday's game.
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