Gonzaga vs. Central Washington Recap

You know it’s basketball season in Spokane when you hear Heister, Fox and Dickau arguing and making fun of each other on the broadcast.

Gonzaga ended up starting Perkins, Norvell, Kispert, Hachimura, and Clarke in the 108-69 win over Central Washington. Will that be the starting lineup from here on out or will Few play around with it in the preseason? The Gonzaga starters looked a bit sloppy in the first half but started to turn it around in the second half. An ugly win is still a win. As for their opponent, Central Washington was just way too undersized and struggled against a way more talented Gonzaga squad. Here are my takeaways from tonight’s exhibition game...

• 12 straight years that Gonzaga has won their exhibition game by more than 37 points.
• Rui started off hot by scoring the first 8 Gonzaga points and finished with 23 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. He shot 7 for 15 from the floor and a perfect 8 for 8 from the line. I’m betting Rui will be the leading scorer on the team this season.
• Perkins struggled early, started to get going when Crandall threw a dime across the court to him for the easy bucket.
• Clarke controlled the glass tonight on the offensive end with 5 offensive boards and showed off his athletic skills down low. He’s gonna live at the free throw line based on how hard he plays in the paint. He finished with 18 points and a team-high 11 rebounds while shooting 10 for 14 from the free throw line.
• Norvell two back-to-back three pointers. He could be one of the top three-point shooters in the nation.
• Kispert could lead the team in minutes this season.
• Crandall (eight points, 4 assists) going to fit right in the offense, was all over the passing lanes with 3 steals.
• Petrusev (eight points, 7 rebounds) looked pretty solid and should be playing a lot of minutes off the bench with Tillie out for 8 weeks.
• Jones is going to be the x-factor as a rotation player.
• Bench only scored 5 points in the first half, starters did most of the scoring production.
• Gonzaga only had 7 assists in the first half, two coming from Crandall.
• Anton Watson was in attendance tonight.
• Crandall started over Perkins at the start of the second half and looks like a leader on this team already. He threw a couple sweet dimes, one being a behind-the-back pass to Perkins for an easy fast break bucket.
• If Rui can add a three-point catch and shoot to his game, he will be hard to stop for any team in the nation.

• Will Foster end up redshirting this season?
• I don’t see Ayayi jumping in the rotation or making much of an impact on this team.
• 6 Gonzaga players finished in double figures. Hachimure (23), Clarke (18), Norvell (14), Perkins (12), Kispert (10), and Jones (10).
• Bulldogs shot 54.7% from the floor and 45% from three but did struggle from the line (29 for 46 as a team).
• Gonzaga had a 57-38 advantage on the glass.

Next Game - Idaho State @ Gonzaga on Tuesday, November 6 at 9 PM ET on KHQ

*Arden Cravalho is a senior at Gonzaga University... Follow him on Twitter @a_cravalho