Gonzaga coast by the USF Dons 99-81

On a night honoring Dan Dickau by hanging his jersey in the rafters, Gonzaga defeated the San Francisco Dons 99-81. Gonzaga was led my Dons killer Rasir Bolton with 23 points and 6 assists, Drew Timme added 21 despite sitting the last 16 minutes of the game. Anton Watson had a double/double with a team leading 10 rebounds to go with his 15 points, 2 assists and four steals. The Dons were led by Khalil Shabazz 25 points and the sub 6-footer also had a team high 7 rebounds.

In one of the weirdest starts to a game in recent memory, USF started the contest by committing 4 fouls in 56 seconds, ending the first half with 12 personal fouls. Despite all the contact, it didn’t slow down Gonzaga’s offense, they hung 60 first half points on the Dons taking a 60-40 lead into the locker room.

Drew Timme dropped 20 first half points with his impressive array of offensive moves on full display. Timme’s 3 for 16 performance at San Francisco must have lulled Dons coach Chris Gerlufsen into a false sense of security. The Dons used single coverage on Drew for the entire half. USF threw three defenders at Drew, including their two 7-foot plus subs Markovetskyy and Gigiberia, but Timme wouldn’t be denied tonight. Anton Watson also enjoyed the Dons poor first half defense in the paint with nine points.

The second half was reminiscent of last week’s Santa Clara game with both teams on cruise control. USF would cut the lead to under 15, Gonzaga would stretch it out to almost 30. The result was never in question

Hunter Sallis also had a great game doing a bit of everything. He hit his first three-point attempt, had a great backdoor cut, a strong offensive rebound put-back and another eye-popping block.

Shout-out to Khalil Shabazz, the star from Seattle prep powerhouse Rainier Beach High School and Central Washington University transfer has been a pleasure to watch over the past three years. He’s always been a tough opponent and a great player. Getting popped in the nose by Andrew Nembhard last year was graphic and disturbing. He made up for it by dropping 27 on the Zags in the WCC Tournament two weeks later. He will be missed.

Gonzaga will face BYU on Saturday at the Kennel. The game starts at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN