Thursday's college basketball: Kispert, Suggs lead top-ranked Gonzaga past rival BYU 86-69
Spokane, Wash. – Corey Kispert scored 23 points as top-ranked Gonzaga beat rival BYU 86-69 on Thursday in a hastily scheduled game after both teams lost their original opponents to COVID-19 issues.
Jalen Suggs added 16 points for Gonzaga, while Drew Timme and Andrew Nembhard scored 12 each. Gonzaga (11-0, 2-0 West Coast Conference) won its 45th consecutive home game, the longest streak in the nation.
Matt Haarms and Caleb Lohner each scored 13 points for BYU (9-3, 0-1), which had not played since Dec. 23 after a pair of WCC games were postponed because of COVID-19. BYU was hurt by poor shooting most of the game.
Gonzaga was supposed to play Santa Clara on Thursday and BYU was scheduled to play Pacific. But both those teams had to drop out because of COVID-19 protocols, so Gonzaga and BYU decided to play each other a month early.
►Colorado 79, No. 17 Oregon 72: McKinley Wright IV recovered from a scary fall to score 21 points, including a game-sealing scoop layup with 27 seconds left, and Colorado held off Oregon.
Grad transfer Jeriah Horne added 17 points for the Buffaloes (8-3, 2-2 Pac-12), who improved to 10-0 against the Ducks (8-2, 3-1) all-time in Boulder.
Wright was fouled driving to the basket late in the first half, slid out of bounds and banged his neck on a courtside chair. He pounded the floor in pain before joining the team on the bench and returning to the floor.
Chris Duarte scored 27 points for an Oregon team that saw its eight-game win streak halted. Eugene Omoruyi added 18 points.
Big Ten men's
►No. 5 Iowa 97, (at) Maryland 67: Luka Garza scored 17 of his 24 points in the decisive first half, and Iowa roared back from an early deficit by keeping Maryland scoreless for nearly eight minutes.
Garza made nine of his 14 field goal attempts, including 2 of 4 from beyond the arc. He went 4 for 4 at the foul line, grabbed seven rebounds and had four assists.
Jordan Bohannon chipped in with 18 points for the Hawkeyes (10-2, 4-1 Big Ten).
Aaron Wiggins scored 17 for Maryland (6-6, 1-5), and Donta Scott added 13.
►No. 8 Wisconsin 80, Indiana 73, 2OT: D’Mitrik Trice scored 21 points and Tyler Wahl made consecutive 3-pointers in the second overtime to lead Wisconsin past Indiana.
Wahl finished with a career-high 12 points as Wisconsin (10-2, 4-1 Big Ten) won for the seventh time in its last eight games. Nate Reuvers added 14 points and Micah Potter had 10.
The Badgers have won 18 consecutive games at the Kohl Center against the Hoosiers.
Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis scored 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Aljami Durham added 15, Jerome Hunter had 12 and Rob Phinisee 10 for the Hoosiers (7-5, 2-3).
►No. 12 Illinois 81, Northwestern 56: Kofi Cockburn scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half and Illinois rallied to beat Northwestern.
Cockburn also had 12 rebounds in his eighth double-double of the season, asserting himself in the middle after Illinois (9-3, 5-1 Big Ten) got off to a rough start. Ayo Dosunmu added 15 points, and Trent Frazier and Adam Miller each scored 14.
Illinois trailed by as many as 16 before completely overwhelming Northwestern (6-4, 3-3) in its fourth straight win.
Robbie Beran scored 11 points for the Wildcats in their third consecutive loss.
State women's
►No. 12 Maryland 93, (at) No. 23 Michigan State 87: Ashley Owusu and Chloe Bibby each scored 20 points, Katie Benzan added 19 points and No. 12 Maryland beat No. 23 Michigan State 93-87 on Thursday.
Maryland led by as many as 13 points early in the fourth quarter before Michigan State cut it to 83-81 with 1:46 left after a 9-0 run. Bibby answered with a three-point play, and Owusu, Benzan and Bibby combined to make 7 of 8 free throws in the final 48 seconds to seal it.
Owusu, who also had 10 rebounds and six assists, made 10 of 12 free throws as the Terrapins hit 33 of 38 (86.8%) compared to Michigan State’s 9-of-14 performance. Bibby made all nine of her attempts and Benzan was perfect on six.
Diamond Miller scored 14 points and Mimi Collins 13 for Maryland (8-1, 4-0 Big Ten), which entered averaging 95.6 points per game. Maryland coach Brenda Frese won her 494th game at Maryland, only trailing Chris Weller (499) for most wins in program history.
Maryland is still without star freshman Angel Reese, the No. 2 overall recruit, after suffering a right foot fracture against Towson on Dec. 3. She scored 20 points, in 15 minutes, against Davidson in her debut.
Nia Clouden scored a career-high 32 points, reaching the 1,000-point club, for Michigan State (8-1, 3-1), which was going for its best start in program history. Clouden, a junior, was 12 of 20 from the field to reach 30 points for the first time in her career.
►No. 15 Michigan 64, Nebraska 62: Naz Hillmon matched her career best with 35 points, Akienreh Johnson added two clutch free throws and No. 15 Michigan held off upset-minded Nebraska 64-62 Thursday night.
Hillmon scored 18 points by halftime in something of a one-on-one duel with Nebraska’s top scorer, Sam Haiby, who scored 19 and had the Huskers ahead 35-34 at the break.
But Hillmon scored nine in the third quarter, 17 after halftime and pulled down a career-best 22 rebounds as Michigan turned the one-point gap into a nine-point lead going into the final period.
Hillmon’s career effort was just the second 30-20 game in Michigan women’s basketball history and first since 1979.
The Wolverines are off to the program’s best start at 8-0 and rise to 3-0 in Big Ten play and are 5-0 at home. Nebraska (5-4, 3-3) had won its last two, including knocking off then-No. 15 Northwestern.
Haiby was held to two points on 1-for-2 shooting in the pivotal third quarter, finishing with 27 points and nine boards on 10-for-16 shooting. Isabelle Bourne scored five straight to kick off a late 9-0 run as the Huskers rallied to 60-58 with a minute to go.
The Cornhuskers had a last gasp after Whitney Brown deflected a pass with under two seconds left. Bella Craven launched a shot while crossing half court at the buzzer. The shot fell short.
Michigan was playing without transfer Leigha Brown, Nebraska’s leading scorer last season and current Big Ten Player of the Week, who was out for what the program would only call COVID protocols.