No. 2 Gonzaga completes perfect WCC trek with win over Portland
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The second-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs completed a perfect West Coast Conference run Saturday with a 20th consecutive victory over the Portland Pilots, 81-52, at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
Kelly Olynyk supplied 15 points with 11 rebounds and Elias Harris scored 20 for the Bulldogs (29-2, 16-0 WCC), who could potentially claim their first- ever No. 1 national ranking when the latest polls are released Monday.
"It's never happened here before," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said of a No. 1 ranking. "It would be an honor. If they think that highly of us, we'll take it."
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Gonzaga, which had already secured its 10th outright WCC title, closed out the regular season on a 12-game winning streak.
Derrick Rodgers paced Portland (11-20, 4-12) with 10 points, while Ryan Nicholas finished with nine points and nine rebounds.
"They are a very good basketball team without many, any, weaknesses," Portland coach Eric Reveno said of the Bulldogs. "Right now, given what's going on, I think they should be No. 1."
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Gonzaga opened the game with a Kevin Pangos 3-pointer and a dunk by Harris. The Pilots fought back and went up 9-7, but the Bulldogs ran off 13 straight points to take control.
Gary Bell Jr. hit one of his four 3-pointers of the day later on to push Gonzaga's lead to 31-14, and the Bulldogs took a 46-27 advantage into the break.
The Pilots fell behind by as many as 34 in the second half.
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Game Notes
Harris also had nine rebounds and four steals ... Bell scored 14 points for Gonzaga, which shot 49 percent from the field and held Portland to 29 percent shooting.