Top-ranked Zags open with big win over No. 6 Jayhawks
Drew Timme scored 25 points, Jalen Suggs had 24 and Corey Kispert added 23 as No. 1 Gonzaga pulled away from No. 6 Kansas for a 102-90 victory Thursday in the season opener for both teams.
The Bulldogs built a double- digit lead in the first half at the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers (Florida) TipOff, then saw the Jayhawks tie it twice in the second half before putting them away. Gonzaga went on a 22-7 run to go up 96-78.
Suggs, who got in foul trouble in the first half, scored 17 of his 24 in the second half.
Marcus Garrett led Kansas with 22 points, and Ochai Agbaji added 17 points. Agbai picked up his fourth foul midway through the second half, which hurt the Jayhawks. When he left, Kansas trailed 70- 67.
The Jayhawks rallied from a 14-point deficit in the first half to tie the game at 57.
BEARS REBOUND WITH BLOWOUT WIN OVER NORTHWEST >> Andre Kelly scored seven of his 11 points in a 16- 0 first-half flurry that helped Cal (1-1) rebound from a season- opening loss with an 86- 61 thrashing of Northwest University in Corvallis Oregon.
Ryan Betley made three 3-pointers en route to a game-high 14 points for the Bears, who lost their opener Wednesday to host Oregon State.
DOSUNMU, CURBELO LEAD NO. 8 ILLINOIS PAST CHICAGO STATE >> Ayo Dosunmu scored 22 points, freshman Andres Curbelo added 18, and No. 8 Illinois beat Chicago State 97-38 at home. The Illini (2- 0) never trailed in the game, scoring the first nine points and leading 47-17 at halftime. Big man Kofi Cockburn had 13 points and 5 rebounds at the break.
Chicago State coach Lance Irvin has opted out of the season due to COVID-19 concerns. Assistant Rodell Davis is coaching the team in Irvin’s absence.
KUHSE BUCKET LIFTS SAINT MARY’S OVER NORTHERN IOWA >> Tommy Kuhse made a game-winning basket with 1.8 seconds left to help Saint Mary’s (1-1) edge Northern Iowa 6664 in the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Kuhse, who had 19 points, six rebounds and three blocks, gave Saint Mary’s its first lead since 12-11 with a bank shot in the lane. Saint Mary’s plays South Dakota State today in the fifth-place game.
WEST VIRGINIA REACHES TOURNAMENT FINAL >> Derek Culver collected 23 points and 15 rebounds to lift No. 15 West Virginia to a 78- 66 victory over Virginia Commonwealth in the semifinals of the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic in South Dakota.
West Virginia (2- 0) faces Western Kentucky (2- 0) in the champion
ship game today. The Hilltoppers advanced to the final with a 75- 69 victory over Memphis.
BOUYEA SCORES 20 TO LEAD USF OVER TOWSON >> Jamaree Bouyea scored 20 poin,ts and Dzmitry Ryuny had 18 points and 10 rebounds as USF beat Towson 79-68 at the Bubbleville Tournament in Uncasville, Connecticut.
SHERFIELD’S LATE 3 LIFTS NEVADA OVER NEBRASKA >> Grant Sherfield led all scorers with 19 points and made a 3-pointer with 7.1 seconds left to give Nevada (2- 0) a 69- 66 victory over host Nebraska (1-1).
BUTLER PAUSES ACTIVITIES AFTER POSITIVE COVID-19 TEST >> The Butler men’s basketball team paused all team activities following a positive COVID-19 test. Sunday’s game against Eastern Illinois has been postponed. The test was administered Wednesday night following the Bulldogs’ season- opening 66- 62 victory against Western Michigan in Indianapolis.
College football
COLORADO- USC GAME CANCELED >> No. 19 USC’s scheduled home game Saturday against Colorado has been canceled.
The Pac-12 said USC didn’t have the minimum number of scholarship players available at a specific position group as a result of a number of positive COVID-19 cases and resulting isolation of additional players under contact tracing protocols.
Colorado (2- 0) immediately booked a replacement game against San Diego State in Boulder on Saturday afternoon.
USC and UCLA are the only teams in the Pac-12 South that played all of their first three games. Oregon and Oregon State also haven’t missed a game in the Pac-12 North. MULTIPLE OHIO STATE PLAYERS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 >> An unspecified number of Ohio State players in more than one position group have tested positive for COVID-19, according to multiple media reports. The No. 4 Buckeyes (4- 0) are scheduled to play at Illinois (2-3) on Saturday.
Soccer
THOUSANDS BID FAREWELL TO MARADONA >> Tens of thousands of fans, many weeping, filed past the coffin of soccer superstar Diego Maradona in ceremonies that mixed head- ofstate-like honors with the chaos of a rowdy stadium. Viewing was halted shortly before 6 p.m. as the family wished and the body of the Argentine icon was taken away for burial, frustrating many that were waiting to pay their respects.
Fans singing soccer anthems, some draped in the national flag, formed a line that stretched more than 20 blocks from the Plaza de Mayo, where Argentines gathered to celebrate the Maradona-led triumph in the 1986 World Cup.
• The mayor of Naples started a formal process to rename the San Paolo stadium for the soccer star.
“We are already putting it together this morning, taking the first steps to dedicate Naples’ stadium to Maradona,” Luigi De Magistris said. “It’s a process but it will be a quick process, because when there is such a strong desire there’s nothing that will hold us up.
“We’re hoping to make it coincide with the resumption of games with fans,” the mayor added.
Baseball
AROZARENA RELEASED FROM ALL CHARGES IN MEXICO >> Tampa Bay outfielder Randy Arozarena was released by Mexican authorities after his former partner told a judge in Yucatan state that she did not want to press charges.
Arozarena had been arrested Tuesday for a situation involving custody of his daughter, just two weeks after he won the Babe Ruth award for the Most Valuable Player in the postseason. The Yucatan state prosecutors’ office confirmed that Arozarena was released because the ex-partner said any damages had been settled.
Track and field
SPRINT WORLD CHAMPION COLEMAN APPEALS DOPING BAN >> Men’s 100-meter world champion Christian Coleman has formally appealed against his two-year ban for missing multiple doping tests, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said.
The court also received an appeal by the World Athletics governing body against a decision to clear women’s 400-meter world champion Salwa Eid Naser on a technicality despite facing similar charges as Coleman.
The verdicts in the separate cases will have a big impact on two of the most anticipated sprint events at the Tokyo Olympics next year.