San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
AYAYI GETS TRIPLE-DOUBLE IN ROUT
Joel Ayayi figured it was only a matter of time before he got a tripledouble.
It happened on Saturday: Ayayi had 12 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds, and top-ranked Gonzaga routed host Portland 116-88 for their 16th straight win.
It was the first triple-double in the Bulldogs’ history — which is saying something given the talent that has come through Spokane.
“I had a feeling it was bound to happen at some point to be honest, and I’m just lucky and thankful it happened today,” he said.
Even coach Mark Few was surprised it was Gonzaga’s first. He noted that former Bulldogs Domantas Sabonis and Blake Stepp were certainly capable but never reached the milestone.
“It’s quite an accomplishment, anytime you get a triple-double, it just shows how engaged you are in the game, and just how many good things you do to help your team win,” Few said. “And that’s obviously what Joel does. He’s got a knack for winning.”
Drew Timme added 26 points for the Bulldogs (12-0, 3-0 West Coast Conference), who were riding the nation’s longest active winning streak.
Ahmed Ali had 19 points for the Pilots (6-5, 0-2), who have lost 13 straight against Gonzaga.
It was Gonzaga’s first “true” road trip of the season — the team played a number of early season neutral site games.
The Zags were coming off an 89-62 victory over BYU in Spokane on Thursday. Corey Kispert had 23 points in the game, which was hastily scheduled after both teams lost opponents because of COVID-19 protocols.
Kispert, who leads the WCC in scoring, finished with 14 points against Portland.
Ayayi, a junior guard from France, was the reigning WCC Player of the Week after collecting three doubledoubles last week. He had a conference-best four double-doubles heading into the game against the Pilots.
Leading the nation in scoring offense, Gonzaga has 85 or more points in every game this season.
Portland hung with the Zags at the start, but starting forward Eddie Davis collected two early fouls and went to the bench. The 6-foot-6 junior was averaging 11.2 points and 5.2 rebounds heading into the game.
Gonzaga started pulling away
midway through the first half when Ayayi’s jumper made it 23-16. The Zags stretched the lead to 39-25 on Anton Watson’s layup and led 56-35 at the half.
The Zags were 0 for 6 from 3-point range in the opening half. Kispert hit the team’s first 3 at 3:37 into the second. Instead, Gonzaga had 80 points in the paint, compared to Portland’s 26.
“I thought we played offense pretty good most of the night. Guys just took what was theirs, especially that top six or seven,” Few said.
Santa Clara 66, Saint Mary’s 64: Keshawn Justice had 23 points and came through for Santa Clara (7-2, 1-0) on a series of key plays in the final 18 seconds as the Broncos narrowly beat host Saint Mary’s (9-3, 0-1) in the West Coast Conference opener for both teams.
Pac-12
No. 17 Oregon 79, Utah 73: Chris Duarte scored 25 points and Eric Williams Jr. added 19 to lift the visiting Ducks to a victory over Utah.
LJ Figueroa scored 15 points for the Ducks (9-2, 4-1) before exiting late in the second half with an apparent leg injury. Amauri Hardy added 13. Oregon beat Utah for the 18th time in the last 20 games between the two schools.
Timmy Allen scored 23 points and Mikael Jantunen added a careerhigh 20 points to lead the Utes (4-4, 1-3). Pelle Larsson had 15 points, five rebounds, and five assists before fouling out in the final minute.
Stanford 75, Washington State 60: Oscar da Silva scored 17 of his 27 points in the second half and Stanford (8-3, 4-1) pulled away for a win over Washington State (9-2, 2-2) at Santa Cruz.
California 84, Washington 78: Andre Kelly scored 22 points on 11-for-13 shooting and California (6-7, 1-5) beat visiting Washington (1-9, 0-5) for its first conference victory of the season.
UCLA 81, Arizona 76: Tyger Campbell scored 22 points, Johnny Juzang added 16 and UCLA (9-2, 5-0) completed a sweep of the Pac-12’s desert schools with a win over Arizona on the road.
The Bruins went up eight midway through the second half and held the Wildcats (9-3, 3-3) to one field goal over a key four-minute stretch late to remain alone atop the Pac-12.
UCLA is off to its best conference start since opening with five straight wins in 2012-13 and has won four straight at Arizona.
USC 73, Arizona State 64: Freshman Evan Mobley had 10 points and a career-best 13 rebounds and the Trojans (8-2, 3-1) beat Arizona State (4-5, 1-2).
Mountain West
Colorado State 83, UNLV 80: Isaiah Stevens had 22 points as Colorado State (8-2, 5-1) narrowly defeated visiting UNLV (1-6, 0-2). Stevens hit 6 of 8 3-pointers.