Chet Holmgren scored 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting in just 20 minutes of play to help top-ranked Gonzaga roll to a 107-54 trouncing of Central Michigan on Monday night in the Good Sam Empire Classic in Las Vegas.
Nolan Hickman tallied 16 points and Julian Strawther 15 as the Bulldogs (5-0) led by as many as 55 while steamrolling the Chippewas.
Gonzaga posted a season high for points while winning by more than 40 for the second straight game.
Drew Timme and Rasir Bolton added 11 points apiece for the Bulldogs, who outrebounded Central Michigan 51-23 and held a 58-10 edge in points in the paint.
The easy victory came one night before the Bulldogs face No. 2 UCLA in a rematch of their classic Final Four contest from last season’s NCAA Tournament. The Zags won that one 93-90 in overtime.
Harrison Henderson scored 11 points to pace Central Michigan (1-3), which made 30.4 percent of its shots and was 9 of 23 from behind the arc.
Gonzaga shot 56.8 percent from the field but was just 9 of 32 (28.1 percent) from 3-point range.
Holmgren scored 10 points and Timme added nine as the Bulldogs held a 56-32 halftime lead. Gonzaga’s biggest lead in the half was 29 points.
Timme capped an early 10-0 run with a jumper to give the Bulldogs a 16-3 advantage with 15:48 left in the first half.
Gonzaga ripped off 17 straight points later in the half to push its lead to 42-17. Kaden Perry’s putback made it 52-23 with 2:38 remaining in the half.
The only suspense in the second half involved Gonzaga’s winning margin.
Holmgren’s dunk gave the Bulldogs a 66-34 lead with 18:04 remaining. The freshman knocked down a 3-pointer 69 seconds later to again put the lead at 32.
Anton Watson split two free throws as the lead reached 40 at 79-39 with 12:46 left.
Gonzaga later scored 14 straight points to push the advantage to 105-50 with 2:09 left.
–Field Level Media
