Gonzaga Tops Huskies for 70th Consecutive Win at Home
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In the heart of the Inland Empire, Gonzaga doesn't lose college basketball games.
To anyone.
Least of all to the University of Washington Huskies.
On Friday night at the McCarthey Athletic Center — better known as The Kennel but hardly a humane society— the 18th-ranked Zags let their visitors from Seattle hang around for maybe 15 minutes before deciding enough is enough and pulling away for a 77-60 victory before a sellout crowd of 6,000.
This marked Gonzaga's 70 consecutive victory on its home court.
Julian Strawther's lay-in coming off the baseline broke a 19-all tie and put the Spokane powerhouse (7-3) ahead for good in the first game played between these state rivals in three years.
The Huskies (7-3 overall, 1-1 Pac-12) built an early five-point lead, but, as is usually the case, it was just a matter of time before Gonzaga put another one in the win column in its friendly confines.
With a quarter century of overall dominance firmly in place, the Zags defeated the UW for the 14th time in 15 outings at all sites.
Jackson Grant of the Huskies gets caught in an awkward position with the basketball.
James Snook/USA TODAY Sports
In fact, the locals still haven't lost to Huskies at home since 1944, a streak that stands at a modest nine consecutive victories only because the UW wouldn't play Gonzaga on the road for the longest time.
The Huskies never should have changed that edict.
This game really got away from Mike Hopkins' team once 7-foot-1 center Braxton Meah and 6-foot-7 forward Keion Brooks, the Fresno State and Kentucky transfers, got in early foul trouble and had to leave the floor. Both were seated with just under five minutes left in the half.
Neither UW starter scored a first-half point. Brooks, a 16-point scorer coming in, took just two shots over the opening 20 minutes.
The Huskies, without their leading scorer and tallest player, trailed 36-26 at the break.
For the most part, Gonzaga's 6-foot-10 All-America center Drew Timme did whatever he pleased inside, especially with Meah watching the action from the bench.
Timme, hitting 8 of 13 shots, finished with a game-best 22 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 4 assists. He was backed by Strawther, a 6-foot-7 forward, who supplied 18 points.
Once play resumed following intermission, Brooks scored the first points on a rebound follow. However, he soon drew his fourth foul and he sat down again for another stretch, and the Huskies pretty much were done.
Brooks was able to avoid fouling out and finished with 14 points, while PJ Fuller chipped in 13 and Cole Bajema 12.
With a pair of key players out in big man Franck Kepnang and shooting guard Noah Williams, the Huskies could ill afford to lose another veteran. Yet with 5:35 left to play, Fuller had to be helped from the floor with what appeared to be a badly sprained ankle.
Meanwhile, Gonzaga moved comfortably in front and cruised to that victory No. 70 at their campus court. And there was more to it than that.
With the win, Zags coach Mark Few picked up his 664th victory, which tied him with UCLA's legendary leader John Wooden.
Home, indeed, is always where the Zags' heart is.
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