Dixie State opened the 2021-22 season on about as big a stage as you could hope for facing the top-ranked team in the country. However the Trailblazers could not overcome a slow start as No. 1 Gonzaga rolled to a 97-63 victory on Tuesday night inside "The Kennel."

The Bulldogs (1-0) scored on three of their first four possessions, taking advantage of two early Blazer miscues, to set the early tone as the Zags opened the game with a 17-3 run. 

Things did not get much better for Dixie State (0-1), which misfired on 14 of its first 16 shots and turned the ball over 10 times over the first 11-plus minutes of the contest. 
 
Facing a 25-6 deficit with under eight minutes to play in the opening half, the Trailblazers rattled off a 10-4 spurt to cut the deficit to 29-16 with 4:47 to go until the halftime break. Noa Gonsalves kick-started the run by knocking down his first collegiate shot – a big 3-pointer, while Trevon Allfrey hit back-to-back buckets to make it a 13-point game.
 
The Zags would counter with a 9-2 rally to extend to their biggest lead of the game at 38-18. However the Blazers countered with an Isaiah Pope corner three, followed by late baskets from Cameron Gooden and Dancell Leter in the closing moments, to go into the intermission down by a 40-25 count.
 
Dixie State stayed within striking distance early in the second half, thanks to some clutch shooting from the perimeter. Leter opened the stanza with a 3-pointer, while Andre Mulibea and Brock Gilbert both hit treys as part of an 11-4 run that pulled the Blazers to within 10 at 49-39 after a Gooden lay-in with 14:05 to play.
 
Gonzaga's All-American Drew Timme answered right back with a bucket eight seconds later, and that seemed to ignite the Bulldogs as they racked up 11-unanswered points over five-straight possessions, which turned a 10-point lead into a 60-39 cushion less than two minutes later.
 
Julian Strawther accounted for seven of the Zags 11 points in the run, including an exclamation dunk to cap the rally. Gonzaga would cruise on from there to post its 52^nd-straight home win.

"Gonzaga is the best team we are going to play all year long, and we're at their place, it's crazy, it's a great atmosphere, it's fun," Head Coach Jon Judkins said. "It was our first game, and it's hard when you're playing the best team in the country in your first game. But the positive part about all of it is that proved that we can play with anybody. [Gonzaga] is No. 1 in the nation and we played with them for a while. Let's use that to our advantage and in our next game we know that we can play with anybody."
 
Gooden led the Trailblazers with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting to go with five assists and three rebounds. Meanwhile Leter made the most of his Blazer debut as he hit 5-of-9 from the floor for 13 points. Leter also pulled down four boards and had a block and a steal in 24 minutes. 

Dixie State shot 35.4 percent from the floor (23-of-65) and went 8-of-22 (.364) from the perimeter, though the Blazers connected on 6-of-9 (.667) from beyond the arc in the second half. DSU was also a paltry 9-of-21 (.429) at the foul line and were outrebounded by a 45-36 count. 
 
"I thought in the second half we relaxed offensively, we tried to do the things we needed to do, we hit some good shots and all of the sudden we go on a run," said Judkins. "But we gave up two big [second half] runs and I told our guys – every team goes on runs, and we need to stop the runs when they go. And the way you stop them is getting get to the foul line and make your foul shots and you got to dig down defensively.
 
"There are so many things where we can get better at, there are so many things that we saw, but the bright side is that there's some things we feel we can do. And if you can do those things against [Gonzaga], then we can do them against almost anybody."

Strawther led all scorers with 17 points as five Bulldogs scored in double figures, while freshman 7-footer Chet Holmgren had 14 points and game-highs of 13 rebounds and seven blocks. Gonzaga shot 54.4 percent (37-of-68), 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from beyond the arc. 

Dixie State begins a stretch that will see the Blazers play seven of their next 10 games at home, starting with their home opener this Friday night, Nov. 12, against in-state rival and future WAC opponent Southern Utah. Tip-off inside the Burns Arena is slated for 7 p.m.