Suggs scores 27 to help Gonzaga take down Iowa
In early December, Gonzaga paused all activities because of the coronavirus. The top-ranked Bulldogs had five games canceled-because of the shutdown, and hadn’t played a game since Dec. 2 before Saturday’s showdown with
No. 3 Iowa.
Despite the layoff, Gonzaga showed little rust in a 99-88 victory over the Hawkeyes in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. That seemed especially true for freshman Jalen Suggs, who scored 18 of his career-high 27 points in the first half to lead the Bulldogs.
Suggs entered the game against Iowa averaging 13.3 points per game. He blew by that midway through the first half and finished 8 for 17 from the floor and was 7 for 10 from the 3point line after going just 2 for 6 from beyond the arc on Gonzaga’s first three games. His previous career high was 24 against Kansas on Nov. 26.
“This past week and a half, I spent a lot of time in the gym by myself, just late at night spending time getting shots up under the gun,” Suggs said. “Coming into this weekend, I really felt like my jump shot improved and I felt really comfortable with it. I was telling everybody that this was a shooter’s gym. It feels really good in here and I just came out today really confident.”
Drew Timme added 15 points and Joel Ayai added 11 points and grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds for Gonzaga (4-0).
Luka Garza led Iowa
(6-1) with 30 points and 10 rebounds on 13 of 18 shooting. Joe Wieskamp added 20 points and nine rebounds for the Hawkeyes.
Gonzaga used a 24-10 run to open things up in the first half. Suggs scored 10 points during the run and Gonzaga continued to pour it on in the first half, building the lead to as many as 18 on a Suggs three-pointer with just under two minutes to play. The Bulldogs shot 58% from the floor in the first half.
While Gonzaga was cruising, Iowa went cold from the field. The Hawkeyes went nearly five minutes without a field goal in the first half. The Hawkeyes entered the game averaging nearly 12 made three-pointers per game. Against Gonzaga, they were just 4 for 22.
Iowa seemed to have one last gasp midway through the second half. After a Garza basket cut the deficit to 14, the limited number of Iowa fans in the building cheered as the Hawkeyes broke a timeout. A threepoint play by Jack Nunge out of the timeout cut it to 81-71, and the Pentagon came to life as the Hawkeyes eyed a comeback.
The Hawkeyes got the deficit down to nine with two minutes to play after trailing by as many as 20 when Aaron Cook scored to make it 71-51 with just over 13 minutes to play.
• No. 2 Baylor 100, Kansas State 69: MaCio Teague had 23 points and 10 rebounds and Davion Mitchell scored 20 points in Manhattan, Kansas. Jared Butler had 14 points and 13 assists for his first career double-double with the Bears (5-0, 1-0 Big 12), and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua scored 13 points. Antonio Gordon led the Wildcats (3-5, 1-1) with 23 points on 9-of-9 shooting, and Selton Miguel scored 14 points.
• No. 12 Wisconsin 85, No. 23 Louisville 48: Micah Potter scored 20 points and Aleem Ford added 12 in a rescheduled ACC/Big Ten Challenge game in Madison, Wisconsin. The Cardinals (4-1), playing their first game since Dec. 1 after team activities were suspended due to coronavirus issues, were without leading scorer Carlik Jones. Trevor Anderson added 11 points and Brad Davison 10 for Wisconsin (6-1), which rolled to a 44-18 halftime lead. David Johnson had 12 points and Quinn Slazinski 11 for the Cardinals.
• No. 22 North Carolina 75, Kentucky 63: Armando Bacot scored 11 of his team-high 14 points in the second half, rallying the Tar Heels (5-2) from a double-digit deficit to beat the Wildcats (1-5) at the CBS Sports Classic in Cleveland.