College basketball | T25 results | Thursday
No. 12 Gonzaga 97, San Diego 72
SPOKANE, Wash. — Drew Timme had 22 points and 13 rebounds to help No. 12 Gonzaga beat San Diego.
The win sets up a matchup between Gonzaga and No. 15 Saint Mary’s for the West Coast Conference regular season title on Saturday. The Gaels haven’t won an outright WCC regular season title since 2011-12 and haven’t beat the Zags twice in a season since 2015-16.
Timme needs to average 19.3 points per game over the next three games to break Gonzaga’s all-time scoring record set by Frank Burgess in 1961.
The Zags (23-6, 13-2 West Coast) dug out of an early six-point deficit with a 19-2 run before Jase Townsend took over for USD, scoring on an array of jumpers and drives to keep the margin in single digits. Not to be outdueled, Ben Gregg reeled off 11 points in the last 4:35 of the first half as part of a 17-7 Gonzaga run to close the half up 17.
Gregg added 18 points and Julian Strawther scored 17. Gonzaga is 16-0 this season when Strawther scores at least 14 points and have won 146 straight games when ahead by 10 or more at the half.
Timme and Bolton scored or assisted on 10 straight points to start the second for Gonzaga, igniting a 17-6 run to push the Zags’ lead to 30.
The Toreros (11-18, 4-11) couldn’t contain the Zags’ No. 1 scoring offense after holding No. 15 Saint Mary’s scoreless over the final 7:05 of a 62-59 home loss last week. San Diego closed the game with a 12-2 run.
Townsend scored 15 points and Marcellus Earlington added 11 in his return to the starting lineup after sitting out against Saint Mary’s due to injury.
No. 15 Saint Mary’s (Cal) 83, Pacific 52
MORAGA — Logan Johnson scored 29 points in the final home game of his career and No. 15 Saint Mary’s clinched at least a share of the West Coast Conference regular-season title with a victory over Pacific.
Alex Ducas added 17 points and Mitchell Saxen scored 11 for the Gaels (25-5, 14-1). Saint Mary’s is assured no worse than a tie for first place in the conference for the first time since 2015-16 and can secure its first outright crown since 2011-12 by winning at No. 12 Gonzaga on Saturday night.
The Gaels wrapped up their second straight perfect home season in conference play with a victory that gave them 25 wins for the 12th time in the last 16 seasons.
Jordan Ivy-Curry scored 11 points to lead the Tigers (13-17, 6-9), who have lost five of six.
Johnson helped break the game open early, sparking a 21-6 run that gave Saint Mary’s a 33-16 lead midway through the first half. He scored 12 points during that stretch, including a pair of 3-pointers to cap it.
Johnson finished with 20 points in the half as the Gaels led 48-31 at the break.
Saint Mary’s was never threatened in the second half, with Ducas’ 3 making it 68-35 midway through the half.
Illinois 66, No. 21 Northwestern 62
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Terrence Shannon Jr. shook off a slow start in his return from a concussion, scoring 24 of his 26 points in the second half as Illinois rallied from an 18-point halftime deficit to beat No. 21 Northwestern.
Shannon did not start and found himself back on the bench with three fouls as Northwestern (20-8, 11-6 Big Ten) closed on a 13-2 run to take a 37-19 lead into halftime.
But he picked up steam after the break and scored 15 of the Illini’s last 24 points as they erased a 14-point deficit in the final 10:07. His tiebreaking drive with 1:16 left put Illinois (19-9, 10-7) ahead 63-61, and he scored the team’s last five points — including a pair of free throws that sealed it with two seconds to go.
Boo Buie led Northwestern with a career-high 35 points, hitting six 3-pointers and going 12 of 24 from the floor.
Illinois opened 0 for 11 from 3-point range before Shannon nailed two 3s early in the second half. Matthew Mayer added a 3 and hit three free throws after being fouled during a 14-1 run to winnow the deficit to four with 15:06 left.
Mayer gave Illinois its first lead on two free throws with 2:36 remaining. He finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.
Buie kept chugging away for the Wildcats after scoring 22 in the first half, including five 3s, by hitting his first four shots of the second half to push Northwestern’s lead to 14.
The Wildcats were attempting to string together their second six-game Big Ten winning streak in the last 90 years.
Illinois climbed into a four-way tie for third place in the conference with three games left in the regular season. Northwestern remains in second but fell two games behind Purdue.