Hachimura leads No. 15 Gonzaga over Incarnate Word 103-68

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - Rui Hachimura scored 18 points and Zach Norvell Jr. added 17 as No. 15 Gonzaga beat Incarnate Word 103-68 on Wednesday night.

Josh Perkins scored 16 and Jacob Larsen 14 for Gonzaga (6-1), which lost to North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament title game last season.

Jalin Hart scored 17 points for Incarnate Word (3-3), which is in its second season of Division I basketball.

Perkins made all six of his shots, including four 3-pointers. The Zags finished with 12 3s.

Gonzaga shot 54 percent while holding the Cardinals to 44 percent, and won the rebound battle 41-27.

This game went off the rails early for Incarnate Word.

With the score tied 2-2, Gonzaga went on a 17-0 run as the Cardinals were held scoreless for more than 5 minutes.

A 10-4 run a few minutes later gave Gonzaga a 35-14 lead. The Zags shot 70 percent over the first 12 minutes of the game, with six 3-pointers.

The Zags cooled off, missing nine of 10 shots, but still led 49-26 at halftime. Gonzaga shot 56 percent in the first half, hitting eight 3-pointers.

Silas Melson had six points as Gonzaga opened the second half with an 18-6 run to build a 67-32 lead. The Bulldogs substituted freely but the Cardinals did not threaten after that.

This was the first meeting between the programs.

The Bulldogs have held 63 consecutive opponents to under 50 percent shooting, dating to 2015.

BIG PICTURE

Incarnate Word: The Cardinals, from San Antonio, beat three Division III teams to open the season, but have yet to beat a Division I program this year.

Gonzaga: The Bulldogs are coming off a good showing at the PK80 Invitational tournament, where they beat Ohio State and Texas, but fell to No. 6 Florida in double overtime. Their next two games are against No. 25 Creighton and No. 4 Villanova.

UP NEXT

Incarnate Word plays Sacramento State on Saturday.

Gonzaga hosts No. 25 Creighton on Friday.