No. 1 Gonzaga rolls over most recent champ Virginia
FORTWORTH,TEXAS» 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 3-pointers, leading the Zags to a 98-75 romp over
16th-ranked Virginia on Saturday.
After the Zags’ 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.
“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 Zags (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.
“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.”
(6) HOUSTON 63, UCF 54 » Marcus Sasser scored 19 points and Caleb Mills delivered seven of his 12 points in the closing minutes to help sixth-ranked Houston (7-0, 2-0 American Athletic Conference) pull away from UCF (3-2, 1-1).
(18) ILLINOIS 69, INDIANA 60 » Ayo Dosunmu scored 30 points, Kofi Cockburn added 15 points and 15 rebounds, and Illinois (7-3, 3-1 Big Ten) beat Indiana (5-4, 0-2). NORTHWESTERN 71, (23) OHIO STATE 70 » Miller Kopp scored 23 points, Boo Buie had 14 and Northwestern (6-1, 3-0 Big Ten) beat Ohio State (7-2, 1-2). Pete Nance added
10 points for the Wildcats, who won their fourth straight.
E.J. Liddell led Ohio State with 15 points. Kyle Young added 14 points and Seth Towns had 11 for the Buckeyes.