SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga coach Mark Few is not given to easy praise for his team, but he could find little to criticize after Friday's 90-55 win over IPFW.
"We shot 60 percent and held them to 30 percent and outrebounded them by double digits," Few said. "It's hard to complain."
Robert Sacre had 15 points and eight rebounds and Matt Bouldin added 15 points as Gonzaga (2-1) rebounded from a tough loss at No. 2 Michigan State on Tuesday. The Zags lost that game 75-71 after leading for most of the contest.
Demetri Goodson had 14 points and Steven Gray had 11 for the Zags, who shot 62 percent in the game and dominated the rebounding 49-35.
Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne (1-3), which lost at nearby Washington State on Thursday, was led by Antwone Snead and Deilvez Yearby, who had 11 points each. The Mastodons shot just 30 percent.
"It's hard to believe we are competing for the same trophy with a team like Gonzaga," IPFW coach Dane Fife said.
Fife was pleased with the way his team competed to the end, but the taller Zags were too much for the Mastodons, who started no one over 6-foot-6.
"Skilled bigs are hard to find," Fife said.
Ben Botts and Jeremy Mixon added 10 points each for IPFW. Snead added 11 rebounds.
This one was over early as Gonzaga built a 13-0 lead. IPFW missed its first 10 shots, and had four blocked, before Zach Plackemeier made a layup with 11:53 left in the first.
IPFW went on an 11-7 run to narrow Gonzaga's lead to 20-13. But poor shooting by the Mastodons -- who made just 30 percent of their first-half shots -- allowed Gonzaga to gradually pull away to a 42-24 halftime lead.
The scoring tempo picked up early in the second half, and a 10-2 run gave Gonzaga a 65-39 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the game.
This was the first meeting between the teams.
Gonzaga was 10th in the final AP poll last season, but has not been ranked this year.
Gonzaga next plays in the Maui Invitational, facing Colorado on Monday.
The Zags have enjoyed a lot of success at Maui, where they could end up playing strong teams including Arizona and Wisconsin. Few is worried his young team will be hard-pressed to adapt to three different styles of play in three days.
"With the veteran teams we've taken to Maui, it was easy to move from game to game," Few said. "It's a challenge with these guys."
Gonzaga's younger players got plenty of minutes against IPFW. Elias Harris had eight points and five rebounds, while Kong added eight points and Kelly Olynyk had six for the Zags.
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