In his second game since having preseason knee surgery, Killian Tillie scored 13 points to help the No. 8 Gonzaga Bulldogs to a 77-49 win over Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday in Spokane, Wash.
Tillie, who saw his first action of the season in a win over Texas Arlington on Tuesday, went 3-for-4 from 3-point range, grabbed four rebounds, dished out three assists and recorded two steals and a block.
Filip Petrusev scored a game-high 15 points and had seven boards and four assists, while Admon Gilder added 10 points for the Bulldogs (6-0). Drew Timme and Joel Ayayi came off the bench to record 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Reserve Justin Edler-Davis led the Roadrunners (2-4) with 11 points. Greg Lee added eight points and five boards.
Gonzaga was lethargic on offense to start the game and once again struggled from the free-throw line. The Bulldogs let the Roadrunners hang around for the first 12 minutes before a surge gave Gonzaga some breathing room.
After Taze Moore's free throw made the score 24-17, the Bulldogs went on a 15-4 run over the final eight minutes of the first half.
Petrusev made a pair of free throws to ignite the rally. Tillie connected on a 3-point jumper, and when Timme sank two free throws, the Bulldogs led 32-19.
Gonzaga closed the half with a Timme jumper and a three from Ayayi for a 39-21 advantage at intermission.
The Bulldogs' lead would have been larger, but they were outrebounded 21-13 in the first 20 minutes. Just as worrisome for coach Mark Few was his team's 13-for-22 performance from the free-throw line in the first half. Gonzaga finished the game just 25 of 39 from the line.
Early in the second half, the Roadrunners had a glimmer of hope, cutting the deficit to 16 with two free throws from Justin McCall.
But the Bulldogs secured the win with another spurt, outscoring the Roadrunners 15-4 to take a 57-31 lead on a three from Ryan Woolridge.
--Field Level Media
CSU Bakersfield | Gonzaga | |
Justin Edler-Davis 11 | Scoring | Filip Petrusev 15 |
Czar Perry 3 | Assists | Filip Petrusev 4 |
De'Monte Buckingham 7 | Rebounds | Filip Petrusev 7 |
Justin McCall 2 | Free Throws Made | Filip Petrusev 7 |
Taze Moore 2 | Steals | Joel Ayayi 2 |
N/A | Blocks | Admon Gilder 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
CSU Bakersfield | 49 | 40.0 | 3-10 | 6-9 | 10 | 30 | 0 | 6 | 27 |
Gonzaga | 77 | 44.9 | 8-23 | 25-39 | 15 | 24 | 5 | 11 | 10 |