Washington coach Lorenzo Romar expected Gonzaga junior Nigel Williams-Goss to produce as he did Wednesday.

The Bulldogs point guard scored a season-high 23 points against the Huskies in eighth-ranked Gonzaga's 98-71 win at Spokane, Wash.

"I know he's a good basketball player and he's a difference-maker with his team," said Romar, who recruited Williams-Goss to Washington and coached him for two seasons before the guard transferred to Gonzaga after the 2014-15 season.

"Nigel runs their team better than anybody else they have."

Williams-Goss made 9 of 13 field-goal attempts and added five rebounds and five assists.

Backcourt mate Jordan Mathews, a former California guard, contributed 14 points on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range against his former Pac-12 rival. Post player Przemek Karnowski contributed 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field with eight rebounds.

Washington (4-4) lost its third consecutive game, while Gonzaga improved to 9-0 for the first time since 2012-13.

The Huskies were led by freshman point guard Markelle Fultz's 25 points, but the high-profile NBA prospect had to shoot 26 times to reach that total. He shot 10 of 26 from the floor and grabbed 10 rebounds but handed out only one assist in 37 minutes.

"Our defense from Nigel and Silas (Melson) on him made him work for everything he could get," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said.

Washington shot an ice-cold 30.4 percent from the field, including 25 percent from 3-point range, and recorded only seven assists overall. That was in stark contrast to the performance of Gonzaga, who made 53.8 percent of their shots, including 50 percent from beyond the arc, and scored off 21 assists.

The Huskies' poor shooting was too much to overcome, although they outrebounded Gonzaga 54-42, including an offensive rebounding edge of 29-11.

"Everybody had a ton of offensive rebounds, but our problem was we couldn't finish it out," said Washington forward Noah Dickerson, who had 15 rebounds and 12 points (making only 2 of 11 attempts from the field).

"When it comes down to it, they're really good, and they showed it."

Gonzaga led from the outset and was never threatened after building a 27-6 advantage with 11:42 left in the first half. The Bulldogs were on top 47-22 at the half behind the scoring of Mathews and Williams-Goss. The duo set the tone, combining for more scoring in the first half, 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field, than Washington's entire team.

The Huskies, meanwhile, made only 21.4 percent (9 of 42) of their shots and missed all seven of their 3-point attempts in the first half.

"The guys found me in space, and I was able to knock the shots down," said Mathews, who scored all of his points in the first half against the intrastate rivals. "You could tell this would be a special night when we drove up to the arena and a lot of people were outside.

"We knew it was a rivalry and we had to approach this type of game with aggression. I played them six times when I was in the Pac-12. I know I wanted to come out with emotion and show we are the best team in Washington."

NOTES: Washington has a 29-16 advantage in the series, but Gonzaga won for the 10th time in the past 11 matchups. ... Gonzaga has 39 3-pointers over the past four games ... Entering the game, Washington was third in the NCAA with an average of 7.7 blocks per game. The Huskies had four against the Bulldogs, who tallied a season-high eight. ... Washington freshman G Markelle Fultz was the only player averaging at least 20 points, six rebounds and five assists in the NCAA entering play Wednesday.