College basketball: Gonzaga has easy time in conference opener

Rui Hachimura scored 19 points, Josh Perkins added 16, and No. 20 Gonzaga beat Pacific 81-48 on Thursday night in Spokane, Wash., winning its 22nd consecutive West Coast Conference opener.

Zach Norvell Jr. scored 13 points for the Bulldogs (11-3), who have beaten the Tigers (5-9) 11 times in a row.

Jahlil Tripp scored nine points for Pacific, which shot 33% in losing its fifth game in a row.

Gonzaga led 31-21 at halftime and used a 17-4 run in the second half to take a 61-39 lead.

“We played a great second half,” said Gonzaga coach Mark Few, who has never lost a conference opener in 19 seasons. “Our guys stuck with it. They played good defense.”

Few’s record in WCC games is 244-29.

at No. 23 Seton Hall 90, No. 25 Creighton 84: Khadeen Carrington hit a go-ahead layup with 2:05 to play and the Pirates (12-2) rallied from a 13-point deficit in the second half in the Big East opener for both teams. Martin Krampelj had a career-high 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Jays (10-3), who did not score in the final 3:32.

SOUTHLAND

MEN

at Utah Valley 90, UC Riverside 82: Brandon Randolph and Conner Toolson scored 20 points apiece and the Wolverines (10-5) held off the Highlanders (5-8), who got 25 points from Chance Murray. Utah Valley led 54-36 at halftime and 63-46 with 15:04 left before Riverside rallied.

New Mexico State 65, at UC Irvine 60: Zach Lofton made six of eight free throws in the final two minutes for the Aggies (12-3), who were coming off a loss to USC in the final of the Diamond Head Classic. Eyassu Worku had 19 points and Evan Leonard 12 for the Anteaters (5-11).

at Santa Clara 72, Pepperdine 65: KJ Feagin and Henry Caruso scored 10 points in the final minutes for the Broncos (4-9) in the first West Coast Conference game for both teams. Colbey Ross scored 20 points for the Waves (3-10), including a layup with 14 seconds left that made it 68-65.

at St. Mary’s 87, Loyola Marymount 59: Jock Landale’s 21 points and nine rebounds led the Gaels (12-2) to an easy win over the Lions (5-7) in a WCC game. Eli Scott scored 13 for Loyola Marymount, which shot 37.5%. Mattias Markusson had 11 points and five rebounds for the Lions.

WOMEN

Southland women’s games scheduled for Friday:

UCLA at Stanford — 5:30 p.m. PT

USC at California — 6 p.m. PT