Michigan handles Garza, decks Iowa
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NO. 3 MICHIGAN 79, NO. 9 IOWA 57
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Hunter Dickinson showed early on that he could guard Luka Garza without help.
Then, when Dickinson left the game for a bit with three fouls, his teammates took control.
Dickinson gave Garza fits around the basket, and Franz Wagner scored 21 points to lead No. 3 Michigan to a 7957 victory over No. 9 Iowa on Thursday night. Garza’s threepoint play early in the second half put the Hawkeyes up 3736 — and drew Dickinson’s third foul. Michigan answered that with a 14-2 run that took place mostly while Dickinson was on the bench.
“All hands on deck,” Wolverines Coach Juwan Howard said.
Dickinson more than held his own against Garza in a much-anticipated matchup of two standout big men who have known each other for years. The Wolverines (17-1, 12-1) passed yet another test against a highly ranked opponent, and they look increasingly alone atop the Big Ten, where every other team has at least four conference losses.
Garza led the Hawkeyes (17-7, 11-6) with 16 points, but he shot 6 of 19 from the floor. The 7-1 Dickinson, who like Garza went to high school in the Washington area, blocked Garza’s first shot attempt of the game. Even when Garza got the ball in good position in the post, he had a hard time scoring consistently.
“I know I’ve got to be better for my team,” Garza said. “For some reason, there was just a lid on the rim for me tonight.”
NO. 1 GONZAGA 89, SANTA CLARA 75
SPOKANE, Wash. — Corey Kispert scored 25 points, Drew Timme had 16 of his 18 points in the second half and No. 1 Gonzaga won its 50th consecutive at ho m e.
The Bulldogs won their 27th consecutive overall dating to last season, but struggled to shake the Broncos for most of the night.
Timme was a big reason why Gonzaga (23-0, 14-0 West Coast) was finally able to pull away in the second half. Limited to just eight minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, Gonzaga’s primary interior scorer made 7 of 9 shots as the Bulldogs pulled away from a 40-38 halftime lead.
Jalen Suggs finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists, and Joel Ayayi added 11 points for Gonzaga.
Guglielmo Caruso led Santa Clara (10-7, 4-5) with 19 points, and Giordan Williams added 18.
MICHIGAN STATE 71, NO. 4 OHIO STATE 67
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Aaron Henry had 18 points to help Michigan State improve its chances of making the NCAA Tournament with a victory over No. 4 Ohio State, two days after Coach Tom Izzo’s team beat No. 5 Illinois.
The Spartans (13-9, 7-9 Big Ten) rallied from a nine-point, second-half deficit with Gabe Brown finishing with 11 points and Josh Langford making key plays at both ends of the court.
The Buckeyes (18-6, 12-6) finished the game without Coach Chris Holtmann, who was ejected for arguing with officials when he was called for a second technical foul with 1.4 seconds left.
Ohio State’s E.J. Liddell had 18 points and Duane Washington scored 17.
NO. 5 ILLINOIS 86, NEBRASKA 70
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Kofi Cockburn scored 24 points, freshman Adam Miller added 18 and No. 5 Illinois (17-6, 13-4 Big Ten) beat Nebraska (5-17, 1-14).
NO. 12 HOUSTON 81, WESTERN KENTUCKY 57
HOUSTON — Quentin Gri m es scored a career-high 33 points and had six rebounds to help No. 12 Houston beat Western Kentucky.
Grimes scored 21 points in the first half, including 18 in a row at one point. The junior guard finished 11 of 21 from the field, making 8 of 16 on three-pointers.
Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark each had 12 points, and DeJon Jarreau had nine points for Houston (19-3).
COLORADO 80,
NO. 19 SOUTHERN CAL 62
BOULDER, Colo. — Jeriah Horne hit a career-best six three-pointers on his way to 24 points, McKinley Wright IV had a career-high 14 assists and Colorado routed No. 19 Southern California to sweep the season series.
Wright added 15 points for the Buffaloes (18-7, 12-6 Pac-12), who have won six in a row against the Trojans (19-5, 13-4).
In an efficient performance, Colorado had 20 assists on 27 baskets.
The loss was a blow to USC, which fell a half-game behind rival UCLA (17-5, 13-3) for first place in the Pac-12 race.
NO. 22 SAN DIEGO STATE 78, BOISE STATE 66, OT
SAN DIEGO — Matt Mitchell scored 24 points, including four in overtime, and No. 22 San Diego State overcame 29 points by Derrick Alston Jr. to beat Boise State for its ninth consecutive win.
Trey Pulliam matched his career high with 18 for SDSU, which blew a 17-point second-half lead before recovering in overtime to take the inside track to repeat as Mountain West Conference regular-season champion.
SDSU (18-4, 12-3) took a half-game lead over Boise State (18-5, 14-4), which had its four-game win streak snapped.