No. 3 Gonzaga 78, Pepperdine 76: Kyle Wiltjer scored 16 of his 24 points in just over five minutes of the second half to help the visiting Bulldogs defeat the Waves for the 27th consecutive time.

Domantas Sabonis shot 9-for-9 from the floor and scored 18 points off the bench and took 12 rebounds for Gonzaga, which kept the Waves in the game by shooting 14-for-33 from the free throw line. Silas Melson added 11 points in a reserve role for the Bulldogs (17-1, 6-0 West Coast).

Jett Raines scored a career-high 22 points to lead Pepperdine (11-6, 4-2). Stacy Davis scored 17 of his 18 points in the second half and fellow reserve Lamond Murray Jr. added 12 points.

Pepperdine cut a 12-point deficit early in the second half to one five times, the last with 2:56 left, but Wiltjer sank a jumper out of a timeout and Pepperdine guard Jeremy Major missed a 3-pointer for the second time in the final four minutes that would’ve tied the score. Gonzaga struggled at the line throughout, but managed to make 3-of-4 in the final 19 seconds to hold off the Waves.

Pepperdine trailed by as many as 15 in the first half, cut the deficit to nine at the break and used an 11-0 run early in the second half to pull within one with 15:55 remaining. The Waves made six straight baskets during the run, including four by Raines, and Gonzaga starting center Przemek Karnowski picked up his third foul in that stretch, but they couldn’t yank the lead away from Gonzaga thanks to Wiltjer.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The start of the game was delayed 30 minutes because Gonzaga got stuck in traffic and arrived 25 minutes before the original start time. … Pepperdine G Amadi Udenyi, who leads the team in assists (4.7) and is the team’s best perimeter defender, missed his second straight game with a pulled hamstring. … The Bulldogs shot 69.6 percent from the field in the first half, but 4-for-13 from the free throw line.