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Bell leads No. 25 Gonzaga over Pepperdine

Jan 6, 2012 - 5:01 AM Spokane, WA (Sports Network) - Gary Bell Jr. scored a game-high 15 points to lead No. 25 Gonzaga over Pepperdine, 73-45, in a West Coast Conference clash on Thursday.

Robert Sacre added 11 points and nine rebounds, Kevin Pangos had 11 points and Elias Howard contributed 10 points and nine boards as the Bulldogs (12-2, 2-0 WCC) extended their season-high win streak to seven games.

"I thought our defense was very, very good for 40 minutes tonight," Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said. "We put together a string of about four games now where our defense has been very, very good, I think that is a good sign."

Jordan Baker was the lone member of the Waves (7-7, 1-2) to score in double digits with 10 points in Pepperdine's fourth loss in six games.

After Gonzaga scored the first eight points of the game, Pepperdine reeled off a 12-7 run to get within three, 15-12, on a pair of Caleb Willis free throws past the midpoint of the opening half.

But that would be as close as the Waves would get as Gonzaga scored the next 10 points and used a 41.4 percent shooting performance, while holding Pepperdine to 29.2 percent shooting in the first half, to take a 38-20 lead into the break.

It was much of the same in the second half as Gonzaga opened the half with a 12-4 run over the first four minutes to stretch its advantage to 50-24.

The Waves never got closer than 21 from there and made just 6-of-22 shots in the half, including an 0-for-6 mark from three-point range.

Gonzaga, on the other hand, went 4-for-12 from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes as they cruised to the victory.

"I think our guys got sped up more so in their minds and made poor decisions," Pepperdine head coach Marty Wilson said about his team's shooting performance. "It wasn't anything fancy or spectacular that they were doing, it was just about us making bad decisions."

Game Notes

Gonzaga has won 21 straight against Pepperdine and holds a 41-31 advantage in the all-time series...Mathis Moenninghoff scored nine points for Gonzaga while connecting on 3-of-4 three-pointers....Gonzaga's bench outscored Pepperdine's 26-20.