No. 4 Gonzaga blitzes BYU for 11th straight win

[February 02, 2019]    Junior forward Brandon Clarke scored 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting and collected nine rebounds to help No. 4 Gonzaga post a 93-63 victory over BYU on Thursday night in West Coast Conference play at Provo, Utah.

Junior forward Rui Hachimura recorded 20 points and nine rebounds as the Bulldogs (20-2, 7-0 WCC) reached the 20-win mark for the 22nd straight season. Sophomore forward Corey Kispert scored 16 points, and guard Zach Norvell Jr. had 12 points and seven rebounds as Gonzaga won its 11th consecutive game.

Junior guard TJ Haws scored 16 points and junior guard Zac Seljaas added 13 for BYU (13-10, 5-3), which dropped to 10-2 at home.

Junior forward Yoeli Childs scored just 12 points on 3-of-11 shooting before fouling out. Childs had scored at least 20 points in each of the previous six games.

Gonzaga has won by an average of 35.6 points during its 11-game surge. The win in Provo was also the Bulldogs' 28th consecutive conference road victory.

Gonzaga shot 58.7 percent from the field and connected on 10 of 20 3-point attempts. The Bulldogs owned a 41-31 rebound edge.

The Cougars shot just 36.9 percent from the field and were 6 of 21 from 3-point range.

Gonzaga thwarted a second-half charge and easily pulled away.

BYU moved within 54-40 on a basket by Seljaas with 13:07 left, but Gonzaga immediately answered.

Junior forward Killian Tillie drained a 3-pointer, and Hachimura scored the final five points of an 8-2 run to increase the margin to 20 with 11:05 remaining.

Haws' basket with 7:50 left trimmed the Cougars' deficit to 68-49 before Gonzaga put the game out of reach with a 14-2 surge. Kispert capped the run with a 3-pointer to make it a 31-point margin with 4:08 left.

The lead topped out at 32 points.

Hachimura scored 11 points and Norvell added 10 as Gonzaga led 41-24 at the break.

Junior guard Jahshire Hardnett hit a 3-pointer to cap a 9-2 run to place BYU within 23-18 with 9:42 left.

However, the Bulldogs dominated the next seven-plus minutes with an 18-2 surge. Hachimura capped the run with a dunk to make it 41-20 with 2:01 remaining.

The Cougars shot just 27.3 percent from the field over the first 20 minutes. The Bulldogs shot 51.4 percent before the break.

--Field Level Media

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