LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Gonzaga put together a dominating performance in its latest win.
Elias Harris scored 18 points and the No. 17 Zags beat Oklahoma 72-47 in a semifinal matchup Friday night at the Old Spice Classic.
Kelly Olynyk, Gary Bell Jr., Kevin Pangos and Przemek Karnowski each had eight points for Gonzaga (5-0). The Zags out-rebounded Oklahoma 51-24.
“That was a really, really good win for us,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “We played really good. Got back to playing our style. We attacked on the offense end all night, and did another great job playing defense.”
Oklahoma (3-1) got 13 points from Romero Osby. Isaiah Cousins had 10.
“Gonzaga did a terrific job in dictating pretty much in every way,” Sooners coach Lon Kruger said. “Anytime you get whipped that badly on the boards, you know they were a lot more physical, a lot more aggressive to loose balls. It’s a terrific learning opportunity for us, and we’ve got to get that from it. Otherwise it’s a waste of time. So we’ve got to learn from it.”
Gonzaga plays Davidson, which beat West Virginia 63-60, in Sunday night’s championship game. Oklahoma closes out the tourney Sunday against the Mountaineers.
Consecutive long-range jumpers by Bell and Harris, who also had slammed in a rebound, gave Gonzaga a 43-25 lead three minutes into the second half. Harris had 14 of his points during the second half.
“I think it was just the game coming to me at that point,” Harris said. “I played more aggressive. That was really the main key.”
Pangos’ 3-pointer extended the Zags’ lead to 53-31 with 12 minutes to play. Olynyk had an in-close basket and David Stockton scored on a layup as Gonzaga built a 59-34 lead midway through the second half.
Gonzaga got points from nine players — led by Bell with five — en route to a 32-22 halftime advantage.
“That’s one of the strengths of our team this year is depth,” Pangos said. “That’s a big thing with our team because we just wear down other teams.”
Stockton’s fast-break layup in the final minute gave Gonzaga a 32-21 lead.
Olynyk had a dunk and layup as Gonzaga went ahead 14-5 just over eight minutes into the game.
Oklahoma trailed just 14-8 despite going 2 for 15 from the field during the opening 10 1-2 minutes of play.
Steven Pledger’s jumper cut the Sooners’ deficit to 18-13 with eight minutes left in the half. Andrew Fitzgerald had a slam that got Oklahoma to 20-17 two minutes later.
Pangos’ jumper put Gonzaga up 25-19 four minutes before the intermission.
The Zags, winners of the 2008 Old Spice Classic, have won all five games they have played in the tourney.
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