Written by Adrian Beecher
Salt Lake City, UT – Gonzaga played nearly everyone on their bench, as their cruised through the first-round opponent Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday night with an 87-49 win over the Knights.
Here’s how it all went down between the West Regional top seed and the lowest seed at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
Gonzaga won the tip and put in the first points of the day, coming from two shots at the line for Rui Hachimura. Fairleigh Dickinson answered right back with two free throws of their own coming at the line.
Other than with the game tipped at 0-0, and the 2-2 tie, that was the only time the Knights had the Zags in their sights. Gonzaga methodically crept away from FDU, asserting their dominance.
At the end of the first half, the Bulldogs had a 53-17 lead over FDU, with 14 of those coming from Hachimura. Fairleigh Dickinson struggled to move the ball and maintain possession. In total, the Knights had 10 first half turnovers to just 3 from the Zags.
While the Zags were a solid 57% from the field in the 1st half, FDU was a dismal 19.2% from the field. The Knights leading scorer was Mike Holloway Jr., who had 5 points.
To start the second half, the Knights put in the first bucket, coming on a dunk from Kaleb Bishop. In fact, they came out of the tunnel with a bit of spunk, outscoring the Zags 6-2 to start the 2nd half.
However, that was about the sum of the cause for excitement for the Knights. The Zags continued their cruise to the 2nd round, even sitting most of their starters after the under 8-minute timeout. Even with the subs in, the lead continued to grow, with Gonzaga taking a 42 point lead with only 5:07 left to play.
Hachimura ended the game as the leading scorer for the Zags with 21. For the Knights, Elyjah Williams and senior Mike Holloway Jr. led the team with 10 points each and combined for 14 rebounds.
The Zags will move on to play the winner of the 9 vs 8 matchup between Syracuse (8) and Baylor (9).
