College Basketball Top 25 results | Thursday
No. 1 Gonzaga 102, No. 6 Kansas 90
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Coach Mark Few and Gonzaga keep reaching new heights.
While the top-ranked Bulldogs opened their season with a 102-90 victory over No. 6 Kansas, Few won his 600th game.
“I got an ice shower in the locker, which I didn’t expect,” said Few, who has been at Gonzaga since 1999. “(Kansas coach) Bill (Self) and I set this up for a big college basketball game on Thanksgiving Day before the Cowboys game. That’s why we love college basketball. There’s a lot more games like this coming across the season.”
Drew Timme scored 25 points, Jalen Suggs had 24 and Corey Kispert added 23 as No. 1 Gonzaga pulled away for a statement win.
“We’re not that experienced of a team coming back,” Few said. “We needed Drew and Corey against a high, high level team. We needed their experience and toughness.”
The Bulldogs built a double-digit lead in the first half at the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off, 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.
Self said he believes the Bulldogs are as talented as the Kentucky team in 2014-15, which went 38-0 before losing to Wisconsin in the Final Four.
“I thought we played a great team,” he said. “They have four guards who I think will be the best guards we’ll play all year.”
Suggs, who got in foul trouble in the first half, scored 17 of his 24 in the second half.
“I played patient, picked my spots, picked my moments,” Suggs said.
Few said Suggs was special. “And he’s so good to coach,” he added.
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.
“We needed Ochai out there,” Self said. “We’re not deep enough to make up for him.”
The Jayhawks rallied from a 14-point deficit in the first halfto tie the game at 57.
Gonzaga went on a 12-3 run to take a 20-9 lead. Timme scored eight of those points from the inside. He and the Bulldogs constantly broke down Kansas’ defense, which led to three layups in a row.
With Gonzaga leading 29-15, Kansas made a couple of runs to cut the deficit to as little as five. However, Kispert heated up and kept the Jayhawks at bay. Gonzaga led 54-46 at the half.
Thanks to 62 points in the paint, the Bulldogs shot 65% from the field.
“We definitely can’t start games like that,” Garrett said. “We have to be better.”
COVID-19 NEWS
Three non-athletes that are part of Gonzaga’s traveling party were isolating in their hotel rooms after one tested positive for the coronavirus.
A total of 112 tests were given and no players from any of the four participating teams tested positive, tournament officials said. Auburn and St. Joseph’s also are participating in the tournament.
“To get the game in was really important for our guys,” Few said. “The Kansas program and ours were consistently doing the right things. We did the protocols and tested hundreds of times. I absolutely marvel at what these guys have done. They’ve never complained.”
No. 8 Illinois 97, Chicago State 38
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Ayo Dosunmu scored 22 points, freshman Andres Curbelo added 18 and No. 8 Illinois beat Chicago State 97-38 on Thursday.
The Illini (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten) 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.
Adam Miller scored 15 points and Cockburn finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds. It was Cockburn’s 14th doubledouble in 34 career games and his second consecutive one.
Illinois shot 36 of 60 (60%) from the field and 7 of 18 (39%) from 3-point range.
Xavier Johnson led Chicago State (0-2, 0-0 Western Athletic Conference) with 10 points.
No. 15 West Virginia 78, Virginia Commonwealth 66
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — West Virginia missed its first 10 shots ofthe game.The Mountaineers still raced to a 13-0 lead over VCU.
Derek Culver had 23 points and 15 rebounds to help No. 15 West Virginia beat VCU 78-66 on Thursday in the Bad Boys Mowers Crossover Classic semifinals.
“I try to play hard on the defensive end and the offense was just going to follow,” Culver said. “I just ended up getting in there and playing hard.”
West Virginia (2-0) will face Western Kentucky in the final Friday.
“That’s the neat thing about a tournament like this,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “Three games in three days with three different styles of play, three different styles of coaching.”
Culver rebounded from a sevenpoint game Wednesday night in the Mountaineers’ opening victory over South Dakota State, finishing two shy of his career high. He was 8 of 14 from the field.
Sean McNeil added 16 points, and Oscar Tshiebwe had 11 points and 16 rebounds.
Nah’Shon Hyland led the Rams (1-1) with 13 points.
VCU missed its first nine shots,finally scoring on a goaltending call midway through the first half.The Rams rallied with a full-court press and cut it to two with five minutes left in the half.
West Virginia had 21 turnovers. “We would have done a much better job if we would have time to prepare,” Huggins said. “We haven’t worked on a press breaker. We will, obviously. We’re still awfully young. We’re not quite as seasoned as some of the other people are.”
No. 3 Villanova vs. No. 18 Arizona State, late