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LinkedInSPOKANE, Wash. — Rui Hachimura scored 19 points, Josh Perkins added 16, and No. 20 Gonzaga beat Pacific 81-48 on Thursday night, winning its 22nd consecutive West Coast Conference opener.
Zach Norvell Jr. scored 13 points for Gonzaga (11-3, 1-0 West Coast), which has beaten Pacific 11 consecutive times.
Jahlil Tripp scored nine points to lead Pacific (5-9, 0-1), which has lost five games in a row.
Pacific was undone by 33 per cent shooting and lost the rebound battle 46-32 against the taller Zags.
Pacific scored the first six points of the game, but Gonzaga replied with a 13-2 run to take the lead.
Perkins scored 11 points in the first 9 minutes as Gonzaga pushed the lead to 20-10.
Both teams had trouble shooting in the first half. Gonzaga fell into a 2-of-12 shooting slump, but the Tigers could not make up much ground and still trailed 24-15.
Gonzaga led 31-21 at halftime, after holding Pacific to 29 per cent shooting and no 3-pointers. The Zags shot just 38 per cent in the first.
The teams traded baskets early in the second half until the Zags went on a 17-4 run for a 61-39 lead. The Zags hit four consecutive 3-pointers, by Perkins, Norvell, Corey Kispert and Killian Tillie, during the run.
The Tigers did not threaten again.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few’s career record in WCC games is 244-29.
BIG PICTURE
Pacific: The Tigers were coming off a 39-point loss at No. 3 Arizona State. Pacific fell to 1-12 all-time versus Gonzaga
Gonzaga: Few, in his 19th season, has never lost a WCC opener, and the Zags have won 16 of the past 17 league championships. Gonzaga is coming off a narrow loss at San Diego State, where their high-powered offence was held to 70 points, 20 below their average. All five Gonzaga starters average in double figures.
UP NEXT
Pacific hosts Loyola Marymount on Saturday
Gonzaga hosts Santa Clara on Saturday.
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More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP–Top25
