The second-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs completed a perfect West Coast Conference run Saturday with a 20th consecutive victory over the Portland Pilots, 81-52, at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
Kelly Olynyk supplied 15 points with 11 rebounds and Elias Harris scored 20 for the Bulldogs (29-2, 16-0 WCC), who could potentially claim their first- ever No. 1 national ranking when the latest polls are released Monday.
"It's never happened here before," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said of a No. 1 ranking. "It would be an honor. If they think that highly of us, we'll take it."
Gonzaga, which had already secured its 10th outright WCC title, closed out the regular season on a 12-game winning streak.
Derrick Rodgers paced Portland (11-20, 4-12) with 10 points, while Ryan Nicholas finished with nine points and nine rebounds.
"They are a very good basketball team without many, any, weaknesses," Portland coach Eric Reveno said of the Bulldogs. "Right now, given what's going on, I think they should be No. 1."
Gonzaga opened the game with a Kevin Pangos 3-pointer and a dunk by Harris. The Pilots fought back and went up 9-7, but the Bulldogs ran off 13 straight points to take control.
Gary Bell Jr. hit one of his four 3-pointers of the day later on to push Gonzaga's lead to 31-14, and the Bulldogs took a 46-27 advantage into the break.
The Pilots fell behind by as many as 34 in the second half.
Game Notes
