SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) Przemek Karnowski scored 17 points as No. 5 Gonzaga beat Loyola Marymount 93-55 on Thursday night to remain the nation’s only undefeated Division I basketball team.
Zach Collins scored 15 points and Silas Melson added 13 for Gonzaga (16-0, 4-0 West Coast), which has the nation’s longest winning streak at 16 games. Six Zags scored in double figures.
Buay Tuach scored 19 points for Loyola Marymount (8-8, 1-4), which has lost 15 straight games to Gonzaga dating to 2010.
Gonzaga has shot better from the field than all 16 of its opponents this season. They shot 53 percent, while holding the Lions to 34 percent, including 26 percent in the decisive second half.
The first half was close and Gonzaga led for nearly all of it. The Bulldogs kept pushing leads to as many as 10 points, and the Lions would immediately whittle them down.
But three late 3-pointers - by Josh Perkins, Melson and Johnathan Williams - lifted Gonzaga to a 46-35 lead at halftime. The Lions committed 10 turnovers and shot just 40 percent in the first half, while Gonzaga was 6 of 9 from 3-point range.
Karnowski scored three baskets during a 10-3 run to open the second half that gave the Zags a 56-38 lead. The Lions made just one of their first nine shots in the second half.
Gonzaga’s lead was soon at more than 20 points, as the Bulldogs outscored Loyola Marymount 23-8 to open the second half. The Lions did not threaten again.
BIG PICTURE
Loyola Marymount: The Lions suffered close losses to Connecticut, Boise State and Texas-Arlington this season. Eight of their previous 12 games were decided in the final 10 seconds, and they lost five of them.
Gonzaga: The Bulldogs are off to the best start in program history, and became the only undefeated team in major college basketball when Baylor lost recently. Five Zags are averaging at least 10 points per game, led by Nigel Williams-Goss at 15.3, and they average 85.5 points as a team. The Zags are 13th in the RPI.
UP NEXT
Loyola Marymount plays at Portland on Saturday.
Gonzaga faces a stern test to its undefeated record when they play No. 21 Saint Mary’s at home on Saturday.
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