Gonzaga struggled against Utah State throughout a first half that saw the No. 17 team in the country trailing by as many as eight points.

The second half was a different story.

Sophomore forward Killian Tillie had 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Gonzaga to a tough 79-66 victory over Utah State on Saturday night in Spokane, Wash.

After the Aggies' Diogo Brito's layup cut the Bulldogs' lead to 53-52, Gonzaga blew the game open with a 24-5 run. Corey Kispert made two free throws to make it 77-57 with 5:19 to go.

Utah State responded by scoring the next nine points to cut it to 11, but only 1:38 remained at that point.

Kispert scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and Silas Melson scored 12 points and made multiple key baskets to bail out the Zags (3-0).

Sam Merrill led Utah State (2-2) with 19 points and six rebounds.

Gonzaga found itself down 39-31 with 5:22 to go in the first half after a back-and-forth first 14 minutes.

The Bulldogs responded with an 11-0 run that saw five different Zags score.

Gonzaga led 45-42 at halftime.

The teams were tied at 24 before the Aggies outscored the Zags 15-7.

Next up for Gonzaga is a Thanksgiving Day matchup with Ohio State in the opening round of the PK80 tournament in Portland, Ore.

The Bulldogs might have been caught looking ahead.

The PK80 tournament includes Duke and Michigan State, the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the country, and North Carolina, which beat Gonzaga in the national title game in April.