SPOKANE, Wash. – Safe to say there's probably other WCC outposts USF would have liked to visit rather than the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane to try to halt a three-game losing streak against the nation's sixth-ranked team.
 
After trailing by just 10 at halftime, the Dons were outscored 51-30 after the break and suffered a 88-57 loss to Gonzaga, which claimed their 26^th consecutive victory over USF in Spokane. The Zags, led by Kevin Pangos' 17 points, shot 60 percent from the floor in the second half to pull away from the Dons, which dropped to 7-10 overall and 1-4 in the West Coast Conference.
 
With the win, Gonzaga improves to 15-1 overall and remains unbeaten in the WCC at 4-0. The Zags also extended its home court winning streak to 33 games, the nation's second longest streak behind Duke.
 
Senior Kruize Pinkins made a career-high four three-pointers and scored a game high 20 points while freshman Devin Watson also finished in double figures with 11. However, no other Don player managed to score more than five points.
 
Pinkins was 7-of-11 from the field and made both of his free throws en route to his fourth game this season of 20 points or more.
 
In addition to Pangos' 17, Przernek Karnowski added 16 while Kyle Wiltjer finished with 15 and Silas Mullens chipped in with 10 off the bench.
 
Gonzaga won the battle of the boards, 39-26 and took advantage of 13 Dons turnovers which led to 17 points.
 
The Zags made just four of their first 14 shots from the floor as the Dons built a 11-9 lead midway through the first half. However, the Dons failed to add to their lead by making four straight turnovers.
 
Gonzaga then went on a 12-3 run to open a 21-12 lead with 8:38 left before eventually leading at intermission, 37-27.
 
The second half was all Gonzaga. After Tim Derksen hit a pair of free throws to trim the Zag lead to seven at 46-39, Gonzaga put the game away with a 16-2 run that upped the lead to 62-41 with 10:59 remaining.
 
The lead grew to 30 at 80-50 with 4:41 remaining and Gonzaga led by as many as 33 before settling for the 88-57 victory.
 
USF will return to action Saturday afternoon when the Dons have the Portland Pilots in the Cliles Center beginning at 1:00 p.m. The game will be televised along the Time Warner Network and can be viewed in the Bay Area on CSNCA.
 
Rex Walters Post-Game Comments
 
"They (Gonzaga) played really well, especially in the second half. I thought we did some good things in the first half but the turnovers hurt us."
 
"We can't bring our B or C game and expect to play with a team like Gonzaga. You need you're a game. Over the course of 40 minutes, they just wore us out."
 
"There whole lineup will play at a high-level professionally."