SPOKANE — The streak of bad rebounding that helped cost Gonzaga three straight games is over.
The Zags dominated the boards for a second straight game, and scored a second straight blowout win over a West Coast Conference rival.
Austin Daye scored a career high 25 points as Gonzaga beat San Francisco 85-51 on Saturday night.
“When we were getting beat on the boards we were losing games,” said Micah Downs, who scored 15 points. “We get a lot of open 3’s off offensive rebounds.”
The Zags won the rebound battle 46-27, a 19-rebound margin that was even bigger than the plus 17 in their 95-53 blowout of Santa Clara on Thursday.
The Zags lost to Connecticut, Portland State and Utah in late December in games in which they were badly outrebounded.
“We’ve spent a lot of time on that,” coach Mark Few said.
Gonzaga (12-4, 3-0) won its fourth straight game and has blown out all three of its WCC rivals so far.
Daye made 10-of-14 shots, and added nine rebounds. His previous high was 22 points against Arizona this season.
Matt Bouldin added 12 points for the Zags. Josh Heytvelt and Ira Brown each had nine rebounds.
Dior Lowhorn led San Francisco (8-11, 0-4) with 15 points, five below his WCC-leading average. The Dons have lost seven of their past eight games, and four in a row.
They shot only 32 percent in this game, including 7-of-25 from 3-point range. They made only six field goals in the second half, when Gonzaga outscored them 42-22.
Gonzaga made 51 percent of its shots and was aided by their typically raucous student section.
“This is our first game in an environment like that,” Dons’ coach Rex Walters said, noting that their games at Boston College, Southern Cal and California were not as loud.
The Dons had little answer for Daye, a 6-foot-11 sophomore who also had three blocks and made 3-of-5 3-pointers.
“He’s such a matchup nightmare,” Walters said. “He can shoot perimeter jump shots. He can trail. He can make plays in the post. He’s an absolute stud.”
“From an offensive standpoint they are more talented than any team we have played,” he said of the Zags, who got 32 points from their bench.
Gonzaga owns a lopsided record in the series, winning eight in a row and 20 of the past 21. They have not lost at home to the Dons since 1989.
San Francisco jumped to a 14-4 lead as the Zags made only two of their first 10 shots.
But the Zags got hot and went on a 17-4 run in less than 4 minutes, with Daye’s 3-pointer giving them their first lead at 21-18. The Zags followed that with an 11-3 run to build a 32-21 lead.
Gonzaga led 43-29 at halftime, with 18 of the points being scored by Daye. The Dons scored only 11 points on four baskets in the final 10 minutes of the first.
The Zags extended their lead to 50-31 in the opening minutes of the second half and then cruised to victory.
Gonzaga is 58-3 at the McCarthey Athletic Center since it opened in 2004.
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