Julian Strawther’s stellar double-double lifts No. 3 Gonzaga over No. 14 Grand Canyon

Julian Strawther scored a game-high 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as third-seeded Gonzaga pulled away in the second half of an 82-70 win against No. 14 Grand Canyon in the first round of the West Regional Tournament of the NCAA on Friday night in Denver.

Drew Timme added 21 points for the Bulldogs (29-5), who will play the winner of Friday’s final game between Arizona State and TCU on Sunday.

Anton Watson also had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Rayshon Harrison led the Lopes (24-12) with 20 points, Chance McMillian scored 16 and Gabe McGlothan had 11.

The Zags used a 16-0 second-half run to pull away, taking a 64-42 lead with 9:54 to play as GCU didn’t score for more than 6 1/2 minutes.

Gonzaga shot 53.6% from the field (30 of 56) and was 7 of 15 from 3-point range. Grand Canyon shot 43.1% (28 of 65) and was 9 of 24 from long range. The Zags had a huge lead at the free throw line, going 15 of 19 while the Lopes were just 5 of 7.

The Zags outrebounded Grand Canyon 39-25 and held a 40-26 advantage in points in the paint as well as 11-4 in fast-break points.

Gonzaga led 40-36 after a back-and-forth first half in which Strawther scored 16 points.

The Zags scored the first seven points of the game, forcing Grand Canyon coach Bryce Drew to call a timeout in less than two minutes.

After Gonzaga extended the lead to 10-2, the Lopes went on a 10-0 run, capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Walter Ellis and McMillian, to take the lead.

Grand Canyon led 28-21 before the Zags responded with an 8-0 run to regain the lead.

Timme made a layup with 1:52 remaining in the half to put the Zags up and then assisted on Strawther’s 3-pointer that made it 38-34.