Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Kispert, Gonzaga throttle Virginia
FORT WORTH, Texas — Corey Kispert had career highs of 32 points and nine 3-pointers, leading No. 1 Gonzaga to a 98-75 romp over 16thranked Virginia, the most recent NCAA champion, on Saturday.
Drew Timme also had a career high with 29 points and led the Bulldogs (7-0) with eight rebounds. Gonzaga has the nation’s longest neutral-site win streak at seven games and has beaten four ranked foes before the start of conference play for the first time.
Kihei Clark scored 19 points and Trey Murphy 15 for the Cavaliers (4-2), who fell to 1-31 against topranked teams.
The matchup of one of the nation’s best offenses against one of the best defenses wasn’t much of a contest, with Gonzaga shooting 60 percent with superior ball movement and screening. Virginia hadn’t allowed an opponent to shoot better than 40 percent this season.
Kispert was 9 of 13 from long range, including one about a foot from the midcourt logo followed by another from several feet behind the arc.
The Bulldogs’ offense was so efficient, Cavs coach Tony Bennett tried to slow it by using a timeout three times when the media break was set for the next dead ball. The last of those came after Kispert’s two long 3s and a putback from Timme that put Gonzaga up 62-38.
■ No. 6 Houston 63, Central Florida 54: At Orlando, Fla., Marcus Sasser scored 19 points for the Cougars (7-0, 2-0 American Athletic), who held the Knights (3-2, 1-1) to one field goal over the final 8:50.
■ No. 18 Illinois 69, Indiana 60: At Champaign, Ill., Ayo Dosunmu scored 30 points for the Illini (7-3, 3-1 Big Ten), who had a 14-0 run midway through the second half and closed on a 21-11 spurt. Armaan Franklin had 23 points for the Hoosiers (5-4, 0-2).
■ Northwestern 71, No. 23 Ohio State 70: At Evanston, Ill., Miller Kopp scored 23 points for the Wildcats (6-1, 3-0 Big Ten), who went ahead to stay on Boo Buie’s 3-pointer with 1:04 left. The Buckeyes (7-2, 1-2) had a 40-26 edge in rebounds.