In front of a crowd of 4,557 people, the Portland Pilots fell to the Gonzaga Bulldogs 95-79, completing the regular season sweep for the Bulldogs.
The Pilots fall now to 8-14 on the season and 2-7 in conference play. Gonzaga now sit at 18-4 on the season and 8-1 in conference play. The last time these two faced off the game was considerably less competitive, with Gonzaga railing Portland 103-57.
The Pilots struggled to keep up with Gonzaga’s size, getting dominated. Portland was outscored 40-18 in points in the paint and outrebounded 40-25.Phillip Hartwitch and Tahirou Diabate, the starting big men for the Pilots, found themselves in foul trouble early on, hurting Portland’s ability to defend inside. The Bulldogs also shot an impressive 55% from the floor, lifted by big performances from Killian Tillie and Corey Kispert, who had 27 and 23 points respectively.
The Pilots will now travel to California to play the current number one team in the West Coast Conference, the St. Mary’s Gaels, on Saturday. St. Mary’s is the only WCC team that remains undefeated in conference play.
