No. 1 Gonzaga overcomes slow start, beats Saint Mary's 73-59
1 Gonzaga overcame a slow start with a surge to end the first half, pulling away late to beat rival Saint Mary's 73-59 on Saturday night for its 18th straight victory spanning the past two seasons. Joel Ayayi scored 16 points for the Bulldogs (14-0, 5-0 West Coast Conference). Saint Mary's pulled to 56-48 on Dan Fotu's layup with 9:01 to play before another decisive Gonzaga burst, this time 8-0. Saint Mary's: F Kyle Bowen fouled out with 4:01 left. Saint Mary’s: At Loyola Marymount on Thursday.
Gonzaga, Baylor remain atop AP Top 25; UConn in at No. 25
(AP Photo/Steve Dykes)Gonzaga and Baylor were the top two teams in The Associated Press preseason men’s college basketball poll. Gonzaga and Baylor split most of the first-place votes in the preseason AP Top 25, but the Zags have become the clear-cut No. Gonzaga, which had five games canceled due to COVID-19 issues last month, has won 16 straight dating to last season. The Bears’ closest game was an 11-point victory over Iowa State on Jan. 2 and they won two lopsided games last week, beating Oklahoma 76-61 and TCU 67-49. 21 Ohio State returned to the poll after a one-week absence following a win over Rutgers.
Suggs leads top-ranked Gonzaga over No. 3 Iowa 99-88
Gonzaga guard Jalen Suggs (1) shoot a 3-pointer during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Iowa, Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020 in SIoux Falls, S.D. Suggs, the West Coast Conference freshman player of the week last week, entered the game against Iowa averaging 13.3 points per game. We got into the double bonus relatively early in the second half, but then we miss 12 free throws, which is also very uncharacteristic of our team.”Iowa seemed to have one last gasp midway through the second half. Entering the game, Gonzaga was just 16 for 55 from beyond the arc in its first three games. Iowa: The 99 points scored by Gonzaga is the most Iowa has given up this season.