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 Gonzaga rolled to a 68-47 win.
"We've got to play better offensively and defensively," Bennett said
after watching the Gaels fall out of a first-place tie with Gonzaga
in the West Coast Conference. "I thought in the first half, we
competed well. We didn't do well offensively, but we competed. In
the second half, we didn't do either."
Point guard Kevin Pangos led Gonzaga (19-1, 8-0 WCC) with 14 points
and five assists. Center Przemek Karnowski added 12 points on
6-for-7 shooting, and forward Kyle Wiltjer scored 11 points and had
a game-high three steals in Gonzaga's 12th straight win.
Forward Brad Waldow, the only Saint Mary's player with more than
eight points or five rebounds, finished with 14 points and seven
rebounds. The Gaels (15-4, 7-1) tied a season low for points and saw
their six-game winning streak end.
Gonzaga shot 52.9 percent from the floor and held Saint Mary's to 36
percent. The Bulldogs led only 37-34 before a 12-0 spurt midway
through the second half assured that the longest home winning streak
in NCAA Division I men's basketball would be extended to 35 games.
 "We hung with it and hung with it and hung with it, and eventually
the dam broke," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said.
Wiltjer added, "We wanted to stay true to our defense, keep wearing
them down."
The Gaels, Gonzaga's toughest WCC foe in recent years, lost to the
Bulldogs for the seventh time in a row. On Thursday, Saint Mary's
sank just two of 15 shots from 3-point range (13.3 percent), and the
burly Waldow had to work hard for points down low.
"We wanted to make it tough on him all night," Wiltjer said.
"We sent a lot of bodies at him," Few said. "He can really make
baskets."
Saint Mary's point guard Aaron Bright, who was averaging 11.6 points
per game, went scoreless after missing all seven of his shots. Kerry
Carter, the Gaels' other starting guard, scored five points on
2-for-6 shooting. Carter was averaging 12.9 points.
"Our defense got better and better as the game went on," Few said.
"It was spectacular in the second half."
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Gonzaga led 27-21 at the end of a first half that featured tenacious
defensive play by both teams. The decisive 12-0 run in the second
half was fueled by back-to-back dunks by Karnowski off feeds from
Pangos. Wiltjer followed the dunks with a blocked shot at the
defensive end, then he raced down court and went behind his back
while driving to the basket for a score. The sellout crowd of 6,000
went wild.
"They're going to score," Bennett said, referring to the Bulldogs.
"You can limit them, but they're going to score, so you've got to
put up some points."
In a battle between two strong rebounding teams, Gonzaga posted a
36-28 edge on the boards. Gonzaga freshman forward Domantas Sabonis
led all players with 13 rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench.
Sabonis also produced seven points, three assists and one blocked
shot.
NOTES: Vanderbilt transfer Eric McClelland made his Gonzaga debut,
scoring two points in five minutes of action. The junior guard was
ineligible due to NCAA transfer rules until earlier this month, and
then he sustained a foot injury. ... Hundreds of Gonzaga students
kept a school tradition alive by braving freezing temperatures to
stay in tents overnight outside the McCarthey Athletic Center to
guarantee themselves the best seats in the student section.
McCarthey holds 6,000, and 1,200 seats are reserved for students.
... Gonzaga ranked among the NCAA Division I leaders in several
statistics through Wednesday. The Bulldogs were first in field-goal
shooting percentage (.530), fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio
(1.63-to-1), seventh in assists per game (17.6), eighth in points
per game (81.8), 10th in 3-point field-goal shooting percentage
(.406) and 11th in rebound margin (plus-9.1). Saint Mary's was sixth
in rebound margin (plus-9.8). ... Among individuals, Gonzaga PG
Kevin Pangos was second in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.96-to-1), and
Saint Mary's F Brad Waldow was ninth in scoring (20.6 points per
game) and 15th in rebounding (10.1 per game).
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