Timme and Kispert lead No. 1 Gonzaga to their 20th straight win

The No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs looked like mere mortals for the first eight minutes before they started showing their swagger.

Drew Timme wishes they’d start doing that from the opening tipoff.

Timme scored 21 points and Corey Kispert had 19 for No. 1 Gonzaga, which routed San Diego 90-62 Thursday night for its 20th straight victory dating to last season.

Jalen Suggs added 17 for Gonzaga (16-0, 7-0 West Coast), which beat San Diego for the 13th straight time. Finn Sullivan scored 16, Ben Pyle 12 and Vladimir Pinchuk 11 for USD (2-7, 1-4).

“We’ve just got to do a better job internally. There’s nothing that any team does to us that we can’t handle,” Timme said. “Coming into the environment, especially like this, like every environment, there’s no energy, no fans, you’ve got to create it on your own. We’ve got to do a better job of coming out ready from the jump.

“They kind of got into us the first half and we looked like a regular team, I felt like. Missed our assignments and coverages. But the second half, coach lit into us like we needed to get lit into because we did not play good and we responded. We showed what we’re capable of but it’s a recurring thing and we need to get it in check.”

After a slow start, the Zags used a 15-0 run in the first half to take control and then ran away in the second half.

Kispert keyed an impressive stretch when Gonzaga expanded a 40-29 halftime lead to 58-38 just seven minutes into the second half. The senior forward made a layup and then hit a floater and then added a transition three-pointer. Timme followed with a three-point play for a 5838 lead.

Gonzaga continued to pile on as Suggs hit a three, was fouled and converted the four-point play. Timme converted a threepoint play and Kispert hit another transition three to make it 72-46 with 7:34 to go.

Coach Mark Few said it’s tough playing in empty gyms.

“Sorry, there’s just no juice in any of these places; our place, their place. We’re talking about it, the guys know it, they’re trying, but at the end of the day these are not festive environments of college basketball right now. We’re all just having to figure that thing out. I think by and large this group has done a good job of that, primarily because they like each other. But it is really hard. You’re at the end of January, doing it everywhere. At some point, even if you allow 300 people in here it makes a whale of a difference. Not sure why we can’t space them out and stay safe. Hopefully we can get to that point, especially at our place.”