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Unbeaten season feels more realistic after Gonzaga pounds Saint Mary's

Gonzaga's Johnathan Williams celebrates a first-half dunk (AP).
Gonzaga’s Johnathan Williams celebrates a first-half dunk (AP).

For most of Saturday night’s showdown, Gonzaga couldn’t shake Saint Mary’s in its rearview mirror.

Only in the final eight minutes did the Zags mash the gas pedal one final time and leave the rival Gaels in the dust.

It started innocently enough with a Nigel Williams-Goss driving layup to extend the lead to eight. Only a couple minutes later, Williams-Goss found Johnathan Williams for a transition dunk that increased the advantage to 15. Gonzaga eventually reeled off 16 straight points to turn a single-digit game into a 79-56 rout.

Handily winning the first meeting between the WCC’s two best teams does more than just give Gonzaga an early leg up in the league title chase. It also extends the fifth-ranked Zags’ run as college basketball’s last unbeaten team and makes the possibility of finishing the regular season without a loss a bit more realistic.

Whereas most power-conference teams face their toughest opponents during league play, Gonzaga has already vanquished most of the best teams on its schedule. The Zags toppled Arizona, Florida, Iowa State and Tennessee in non-league play, enabling them to take a blemish-free record into the conference season for the first time in program history.

After Saturday’s win against Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga (17-0, 5-0) will play only three more games against teams better than 138th in the KenPom rankings. The Zags visit BYU (No. 68) on Feb. 2, have their rematch with the Gaels (No. 18) in Moraga on Feb. 11 and then play the Cougars a second time on Feb. 25 in Spokane.

College basketball statistician Ken Pomeroy gives Gonzaga a 33.8 percent chance of acing those tests and going undefeated in the regular season. That’s more than four times better than the 7.4 percent chance he gave the Zags before conference play began.

Watching Gonzaga roll on Saturday night left the impression that the Zags have a chance to make a real run at it. They were nearly flawless for long stretches against a skilled, experienced Saint Mary’s team that is almost certain to join them in the NCAA tournament in two months.

On offense, Gonzaga shot an astonishing 64.7 percent, committed only seven turnovers and continued to get buckets from a wide variety of weapons. Williams-Goss scored 19 points and dished out six assists, Jordan Mathews hit four threes and Williams added 14 points on only nine shots.

On defense, Gonzaga made one of the nation’s most efficient offenses look ordinary. Williams blocked five shots and the Zags’ length and physicality bothered the Gaels around the rim, contributing to their second poorest scoring night of the season.

It also didn’t help Saint Mary’s that leading scorer Jock Landale sat out most of the first half with two fouls and then foolishly picked up his third and fourth fouls midway through the second half on plays away from the basket. In his absence, the Gaels had to play through their guards more and struggled at times to generate open looks.

Overall, it was an impressive game from Gonzaga, one that suggested this is a team that is capable of winning at Saint Mary’s, making a run at an undefeated season and perhaps even taking Mark Few to his first Final Four.

So yes, it could be quite a winter in Spokane. Saturday’s win might be a precursor of what’s to come.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!