Gonzaga routed by Saint Mary's

MORAGA, Calif. – Matthew Dellavedova hit five 3-pointers on the way to 26 points and also had six assists, and Saint Mary’s pulled off a rare rout of No. 21 Gonzaga with an 83-62 win in a matchup of the West Coast Conference’s fiercest rivals Thursday night.

Brad Waldow added 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Stephen Holt had 13 points and six assists for the Gaels (16-2, 5-0) at a rocking McKeon Pavilion, where a standing-room only crowd packed the arena for a nationally televised showdown that’s always the biggest draw of the season at Saint Mary’s. Students stormed the court after the final buzzer.

Elias Harris had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Kevin Pangos scored 12 for the Bulldogs (13-3, 3-1), who had their eight-game winning streak snapped. Gonzaga lost in early December to Illinois and Michigan State, marking another tough nonconference schedule under coach Mark Few.

Clint Steindel knocked down a 3 with 15 minutes, 25 seconds remaining that put Saint Mary’s ahead 48-37, and the Gaels made key stops down the stretch to extend the lead.

They won their sixth consecutive game since losing to now-No. 4 Baylor on Dec. 22, 72-59.

Dellavedova hit key 3s with 10:05 left, at the 5:22 mark and again with 3:43 remaining to keep his team in control. He had a layup with 2:52 to go and jumped in the passing lanes on defense to cause havoc for the Zags.

The gutsy Australian guard — who had a career-high 27 points in Monday’s win over San Francisco — sat down to a rousing ovation with 1:29 left.

He finished 10-for-16 shooting from the field — 5-for-10 from long range — and scored 15 of his points in the first half, including six during an 8-0 spurt to end the half and give the Gaels a 37-29 lead at the break.

Saint Mary’s held Gonzaga’s big men in check.

Gaels center and leading scorer Rob Jones did his part on both ends despite getting just two points to go with 11 rebounds and eight assists.

The 7-foot Robert Sacre, Gonzaga’s third-leading scorer at 11.5 points per game, missed all four of his field goal tries in the first half and began the final 20 minutes on the bench, with Sam Dower in the game instead.

Sacre checked in with 15:23 to play and wound up with four points – on 1-for-7 shooting – and three rebounds.

This was a rare lopsided result in one of the nation’s more underrated rivalries.

Gonzaga, which moved up in The Associated Press Top 25 this week from No. 25 to No. 21, had won the previous two meetings overall and three in a row on the Gaels’ home court.

The Zags also captured the West Coast Conference tournament crown last season with a 75-63 victory to secure the league’s automatic NCAA tournament bid.

Saint Mary’s reached the NCAA tournament regional semifinals in 2010, then was stunned by Kent State, 71-70, in the first round of last year’s NIT.

Gonzaga trailed at halftime for the first time since being down one point at the break before losing 74-67 at home to Michigan State on Dec. 10.

These teams have combined to win every WCC regular-season title since 2001.

The perennial favorite Zags were picked by the WCC coaches to win a 12th consecutive crown, with Saint Mary’s at No. 2.

The Gaels and Zags are two of eight teams in Division I — along with WCC newcomer BYU — to win at least 25 games in each of the past four seasons.

Several former stars from both schools were in attendance, including ex-Saint Mary’s center Omar Samhan and David Pendergraft of Gonzaga. Matt Santangelo, another former Zags great, worked the game for TV.

Gonzaga, the conference’s most dominant team for more than a decade, pulled off an 89-85 overtime victory the Gaels’ home court last season. That kept Saint Mary’s from winning its first outright regular-season WCC championship since 1989.

The Zags also won, 89-82, at McKeon in 2010.