Bouldin scores 20 as No. 17 Gonzaga beats Portland 76-48 to retain first in WCC

Bouldin scores 20 as Zags beat Portland

SPOKANE, Wash. — Matt Bouldin scored 20 points and No. 17 Gonzaga got back to its winning ways with a 76-49 blowout of Portland on Thursday night.

Demetri Goodson added 12 points for Gonzaga (18-4, 7-1 West Coast), which was coming off a rare WCC loss, in overtime at San Francisco last Saturday. It was only their sixth league loss in the past six seasons.

Playing without leading-scorer Nik Raivio, out with an Achilles’ injury, Portland (14-8, 5-3) had a four-game winning streak snapped. The Pilots have lost 14 straight to Gonzaga since 2003.

The Pilots shot 35 percent while tying their season low in points. Robin Smeudlers led them with 12 points and Ethan Niedermeyer had 11.

Gonzaga blew open a tie game with a 20-2 run late in the first half and coasted to victory.

Portland was expected to battle the Bulldogs for the WCC title this year, and lost by just three points earlier in Portland.

Both teams started sloppily and the score was tied at 15 with 7:30 left in the first.

Then the Zags found their shot and buried the Pilots. Mangisto Arop’s putback ignited Gonzaga’s decisive run that led to 35-17 lead.

They led 41-21 at halftime, behind 12 points by Bouldin. Portland shot just 37 percent in the first and was outrebounded 22-10.

It got worse for the Pilots in the second half, as they fell behind by more than 30 points.

Elias Harris added 10 points and seven rebounds for Gonzaga, which had 11 different players score.

Bouldin, a senior guard, displaced Casey Calvary for 10th place on Gonzaga’s career scoring list with 1,518 points.

At halftime, there was a ceremony honoring the selections of former Gonzaga star John Stockton and former Michigan State basketball coach Jud Heathcote into the state of Washington Sports Hall of Fame. Stockton is a Spokane native and Heathcote coached high school basketball in Spokane and later was an assistant at nearby Washington State.