Gonzaga will rely heavily this season on its three transfers -- guards Nigel Williams-Goss and Jordan Mathews and forward Johnathan Williams -- as was the case in an 82-62 win over Quinnipiac on Thursday.

Williams-Goss, a Washington transfer, fueled the No. 11 Bulldogs' execution with a game-high eight assists -- nearly matching Quinnipiac's total in the game -- the AdvoCare Invitational quarterfinal game at Orlando, Fla.

Gonzaga will play a semifinal game Friday night at 9:30 ET against the winner of the Florida-Seton Hall game that was played Thursday night.

The Bobcats (0-3) finished with 10 assists compared to 16 by Gonzaga (4-0). The Bulldogs had eight players with eight points or more led by Williams' 13 points and freshman forward Zach Collins' 13 points and six rebounds.

Mathews, a transfer from Cal, finished with 10 rebounds and six rebounds. Williams, who transferred from Missouri, made six of his seven field goal attempts.

"All three of those transfers are competitive and tough," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "They are very vital for what we're trying to do."

Gonzaga committed 15 turnovers against Quinnipiac but Williams-Goss was steady with his play (only two turnovers in 33 minutes).

"Nigel has consistently done the right things that we need from him," Few said of Williams-Goss, the Washington transfer who has 22 assists and eight turnovers this season.

"Nigel's assist-to-turnover ratio is fantastic right now, and on top of that, he's getting rebounds for us (six against Quinnipiac)."

Quinnipiac was led by freshman guard Peter Kiss, who had 18 points and five rebounds. Chaise Daniels, a junior forward, contributed nine points and 10 rebounds.

Gonzaga's size, with 7-footers Collins and post player Przemek Karnowski, wore down Quinnipiac, which does not have a player taller than 6-foot-9. The Bulldogs won the rebounding battle 48-31 with five players with at least six rebounds.

"We knew coming in that their size would be tough to handle," Quinnipiac coach Tom Moore said. "I think for the most part, we played them tough. We just couldn't sustain it in the end because of their talent and size."

Quinnipiac kept the game close early in the second half as the Bobcats trailed 37-32 with 19:42 left following a three-pointer by Kiss.

Gonzaga went on an 11-3 run to gain separation from Quinnipiac, taking a 48-35 lead with 15:00 remaining. Silas Melson, a junior guard, fueled that run with a three-pointer and a dunk.

Quinnipiac did not come closer than 10 points afterward as the Bulldogs pulled away with a 14-4 run to take a 64-44 lead with 7:56 remaining.

"I thought Quinnipiac did a good job battling us," Few said. "We had a number of guys step up, which is good to see. Williams was efficient for us when we need him to be, and Collins continues to get better for us each game.

"Overall, we have to do a better job of taking better care of the ball and taking better shots (43.9 percent field goal shooting) if we want to go deep in this tournament."

The Bulldogs also made only 23.9 percent of their three-point field goal attempts (6 of 22).

NOTES: Gonzaga has captured the title of this tournament twice in 2008 and 2012 when it was called the Old Spice Classic. In their last six Thanksgiving tournaments, the Bulldogs are 18-2. ... Moore is a former assistant at Connecticut who scouted Gonzaga for former Huskies coach Jim Calhoun heading into the 1999 Elite Eight matchup, won by Connecticut 67-62. ... Karnowski became only the ninth player this season to score more than 1,000 points and grab more than 600 rebounds in a career at the school.