Gonzaga Basketball: Gonzaga Bulldogs beat Northern Arizona 91-52

The tenth ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs played their first official game of the season, coming out on top of the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 91-52.  It was a strong showing for the Zags, but there’s definitely room for improvement.

For the Lumberjacks, junior guard Kris Yanku had 18 points, two rebounds, and four assists.  He gave up seven turnovers, which is never good to do against a high octane offense like the one Gonzaga has.  Junior center Ako Kaluna had 11 points, seven rebounds, and he added two steals.  He is a big bodied center.  Even though he was overpowered by the Zags for the most part, Kaluna could do some damage in the Big Sky Conference.

Gonzaga was led by exactly who you would expect.  Domantas Sabonis looked very impressive as he put up 26 points on 12-13 shooting along with seven boards, and a block.  He made some NBA quality moves that left the Lumberjacks dumbfounded.

Kyle Wiljer had 23 points, seven rebounds, and an assist.  He did most of his scoring from closer in.  He was 1-6 from three.  He showed great fundamentals down low and showed that he can still do a lot of damage inside the arc.

Przemek Karnowski had a game high nine rebounds.  He looks like he is still getting settled in after struggling a bit early on.  He showed flashes of greatness, but still made some uncharacteristic mistakes.

Next: Wisconsin Badgers have Reason For Optimism with Bronson Koenig

Point guard, Josh Perkins had a game high six assists along with six turnovers.  Perkins likes to make flashy passes.  Sometimes these work out brilliantly, but other times they lead to momentum-killing turnovers.  He will need to cut down on these turnovers, but this is a fixable problem.

Next up, the Zags will host Mount Saint Mary’s on Saturday, November 21 at 6:00 pm PST.