Gonzaga rolls behind Kispert’s career-high effort
FORT WORTH — Corey Kispert and No. 1 Gonzaga didn’t get their 1-2 matchup on a neutral court with a national TV audience.
What amounted to the replacement against the most recent NCAA champion worked out just fine.
Kispert scored a career-high 32 points and tied a school record with nine three-pointers, leading the Bulldogs to a 98-75 romp over 16th-ranked Virginia on Saturday.
After the Bulldogs’ game against No. 2 Baylor in early December was called off less than 90 minutes before tipoff because of covid-19 issues, they ended up on national TV on CBS in Baylor’s home state in their fourth game since a five-game pause because of the coronavirus.
Kispert was 9 of 13 from long range, including one about a foot from the midcourt logo followed immediately by another from several feet behind the arc in the year-old Fort Worth arena that is supposed to host the
American Athletic Conference tournament in March.
“He’s as good a shooter as I’ve ever coached, and like I said, nobody’s worked as hard as Corey has at mastering his craft, and yet, he’s incredibly unselfish,” Coach Mark Few said of his senior guard. “I think it’s very fitting that he’s right there in the record books for that particular stat.”
Drew Timme also had a career high with 29 points and led the Bulldogs (7-0) with eight rebounds in a homecoming game for the former Dallas-area high school player.
Gonzaga now has the nation’s longest neutral-site winning streak at seven games and has beaten four ranked opponents before the start of conference play for the first time in school history.
Kihei Clark scored 19 points and Trey Murphy added 15 for the Cavaliers (4-2), who dropped to 1-31 all-time against top-ranked teams almost 35 years since their only victory.
The matchup of one of the best offenses in the country against one of the best defenses wasn’t much of a contest, with Gonzaga shooting 60% with superior ball movement and screening. Virginia hadn’t allowed an opponent to shoot better than 40% this season.
“We needed this,” Virginia Coach Tony Bennett said when asked if a 1,200-mile trip for an added game was worth it for the program that won the 2019 NCAA Tournament before last season’s event was canceled by the pandemic.
“We need to play against some teams that are high, major caliber. This was the first time and we weren’t ready for it. It was too much. You can’t hide forever. This was important but painful. I wish it wasn’t as poor of a showing as it was.”
The Bulldogs’ offense was so efficient, Bennett tried to slow it by using a timeout three times when the media break was set for the next dead ball. The last of those came after Kispert’s two long three-pointers and a putback from Timme that put Gonzaga ahead 62-38 early in the second half.
“You’ve just got to be really aggressive, yet super confident,” said Kispert, who was 11 of 15 from the floor. “There’s an old saying that you’re never more open than when you first catch the ball. So a lot of my shots didn’t really touch my hands for very long.”
NO. 6 HOUSTON 63, CENTRAL FLORIDA 54
ORLANDO, Fla. — Marcus Sasser scored 19 points and Caleb Mills delivered seven of his 12 points in the closing minutes to help sixth-ranked
Houston pull away to a victory over Central Florida.
The Cougars (7-0, 2-0 American Athletic) overcame cold shooting by holding UCF (3-2, 1-1) to one field goal over the final 8:50 to remain unbeaten and deny the Knights a second win over a Top 25 opponent in a week.
As good as Houston was defensively down the stretch, though, UCF was just as tough on the Cougars. Mills was the only Houston player to score from the floor in the final seven minutes, driving the baseline for a layup that made it 5045 and adding a three-point play that put his team up 57-48 with just over a minute to go.
The Cougars went 11 for 11 from the free-throw line in the final 2:24 to put the game away.
Brandon Mahan led UCF with 13 points. Darin Green Jr. added 12.
NO. 18 ILLINOIS 69, INDIANA 60
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Ayo Dosunmu scored 30 points, Kofi Cockburn added 15 points and 15 rebounds, and No. 18 Illinois beat Indiana.
The game was close until about midway through the second half, when Dosunmu hit three consecutive three-pointers to fuel Illinois’ 14-0 run. Andre Curbelo added five assists for Illinois (7-3, 3-1 Big Ten).
Armaan Franklin led Indiana (5-4, 0-2) with 23 points, and big man Trayce Jackson-Davis added 11.
Neither team could find the basket in the first three minutes of the game, and the Hoosiers went on a 7-0 run while Illinois went 0 for 7 from the floor. Following a 6-0 Illini run, both teams settled in and traded baskets for most of the opening frame. Indiana led 15-9 before Curbelo and Dosunmu took control for Illinois.
Dosunmu scored 10 points in the first half. Illinois led 29-27 at the half.
NORTHWESTERN 71, NO. 23 OHIO STATE 70
EVANSTON, Ill. — Miller Kopp scored 23 points, Boo Buie had 14 and Northwestern beat No. 23 Ohio State.
Pete Nance added 10 points for the Wildcats (6-1, 3-0 Big Ten), who won their fourth in a row.
E.J. Liddell led Ohio State (7-2, 1-2) with 15 points. Kyle Young added 14 points and Seth Towns had 11 for the Buckeyes, who had won two in a row and four of five.
Northwestern is 3-0 in the Big Ten for the first time since the 1967-68 season. The Wildcats were 3-17 in the league last season.
The Buckeyes opened the second half on a 13-7 run before Northwestern rallied with a 7-1 run. Ohio State led by seven after halftime, but Northwestern came back with an 11-2 run.
Kopp hit a jumper to pull Northwestern within 66-65 before Chase Audige’s three-pointer put the Wildcats ahead with 1:48 left. Young’s jumper tied it before Buie’s three-pointer gave Northwestern a 71-68 lead with 1:04 remaining. Young hit two free throws to bring Ohio State within one with 47 seconds left.
Duane Washington Jr. missed a layup for Ohio State with five seconds left. Buie missed a free throw before Liddell missed a long three-pointer before the final buzzer.