Gonzaga coach Mark Few said his team played with effort and passion on the defensive side of the ball (Photo: SWX)SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - Kevin Pangos scored 14 points and No. 6 Gonzaga pounded Pepperdine 82-56 on Thursday night for its 24th consecutive victory over the Waves.
Kelly Olynyk added 13 points for Gonzaga (22-2, 9-0 West Coast), which has won five straight since losing at Butler.
Stacy Davis scored 16 points to lead Pepperdine (10-13, 2-8), which has lost four straight games. Nikolas Skouen added 12 points.
In their first meeting, Pepperdine led by a point with 14 minutes left before losing 78-62. But this one was over early, as Gonzaga made 12 3-pointers and the Waves committed 21 turnovers.
Gonzaga scored the first 10 points of the game and Pepperdine was scoreless for the first 5 minutes. The Waves committed nine turnovers in the first 8 minutes to fall behind 14-2.
From SWX:
Coach Few on Zags win: "We took the gameplan and the scouting report.... and we did a great job of buying in. We played with effort and some passion on the defensive end. And really, it was a defense-offense night."
Kyle Dranginis on Zags win: "The coaches in our ear, watching film - the last time we played Pepperdine over there we were kind of getting outhustled on the boards and outhustled everywhere. We weren't getting loose balls. The coaches were just in our ears all week preparing us."
