MORAGA, Calif. -- Przemek Karnowski scored 19 points and No. 1 Gonzaga survived its toughest remaining obstacle to an undefeated regular season by beating No. 20 Saint Mary's 74-64 on Saturday night.
Johnathan Williams added 17 points and Nigel Williams-Goss had 14 to help the Bulldogs (26-0, 14-0) sweep the season series and win for the 11th time in the past 13 meetings against their fiercest conference rival.
The trip to Saint Mary's (22-3, 12-2) was viewed as the last true test for Gonzaga before the postseason begins. The Bulldogs were seeded fourth overall in preliminary rankings for the NCAA tournament released earlier Saturday and can ill afford a slip-up if they want to be assured of being a top seed in a region next month.
Jock Landale scored 24 points despite being limited by foul trouble to lead the way for the Gaels, who couldn't get enough perimeter help for their big man to stay with the Bulldogs. Saint Mary's made 4 of 15 three-point attempts.
The scene at overflowing McKeon Pavilion was electric for the first visit by the No. 1 team since Bill Russell and San Francisco came to Moraga in 1955. ESPN's GameDay show was on hand and fans packed the aisles for the standing-room only crowd.
It was a first half of runs with the teams trading 9-0 spurts early before Gonzaga broke things open with a 17-2 stretch late in the half. The Gaels then got the final six points from Landale to cut the deficit to 40-31 at the break.
But Saint Mary's never got closer than seven points in the second half as Gonzaga answered every charge.
BIG 12
Kansas squeaks by
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Josh Jackson had 31 points and 11 rebounds and made a free throw with 2.8 seconds left to lift No. 3 Kansas to an 80-79 victory over Texas Tech.
After Kansas inbounded the ball with 5.4 seconds left, Jackson was fouled and missed the first free throw before making the game-winner.
Landen Lucas scored 13 points and Frank Mason III had 12 for Kansas (22-3, 10-2).
Keenan Evans finished with 25 points and Niem Stevenson had a career-high 22 points and 10 rebounds for Texas Tech (16-9, 4-8). Zach Smith finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
In other games involving Big 12 men's teams Saturday, Johnathan Motley had 25 points on 12-of-15 shooting and No. 6 Baylor had little trouble this time with TCU in a 70-52 victory over the Horned Frogs. Manu Lecomte added 17 points for the Bears (22-3, 9-3). Jaylen Fisher had 18 points for TCU (17-8, 6-6). ... Jevon Carter had 19 points and nine rebounds to lead No. 13 West Virginia to an 85-66 victory over Kansas State. Fouls dominated the game, as 56 were called throughout the game although no player fouled out. Nathan Adrian added 11 points for West Virginia (20-5, 8-4). Wesley Iwundu led five Wildcats (16-9, 5-7) in double figures with 14 points. ... Phil Forte and Jeffrey Carroll each scored 18 points to lead Oklahoma State to a 84-71 victory over Texas. Davon Dillard scored 15 points and had eight rebounds for Oklahoma State (16-9, 5-7). Jarrett Allen had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Texas (10-15, 4-8). ... Naz Mitrou-Long scored 23 points and Iowa State cruised past Oklahoma 80-64, sending the Sooners (8-16, 2-10) to their seventh consecutive defeat. Mitrou-Long hit five three-pointers for the Cyclones (15-9, 7-5).
ATLANTIC COAST
Irish avenge loss
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Bonzie Colson scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to help Notre Dame avenge a January loss to Florida State with an 82-74 victory over the No. 14 Seminoles.
Matt Farrell added 15 points and nine assists for Notre Dame (19-7, 8-5 ACC) and Steve Vasturia chipped in with 15 points and seven boards.
Coming off a dominant three-game winning streak during which they won by an average of 33 points, the Seminoles (21-5, 9-4) found themselves down by 11 points in the first half and had no answer in the second half for Colson, who scored 20 after the break.
Terrance Mann led Florida State with 15 points and Dwayne Bacon and Trent Forrest each had 12.
In other games involving ACC men's teams Saturday, Quentin Snider returned from an injury to score 13 points, including a big three-pointer with 41 seconds remaining, and Deng Adel and Donovan Mitchell added 18 points each as No. 4 Louisville (20-5, 8-4) rallied past Miami 71-66. Ja'Quan Newton had 15 points for the Hurricanes (16-8, 6-6). ... Luke Kennard scored 25 points and No. 18 Duke held on to beat Clemson 64-62. The Blue Devils (20-5, 8-4) blew a 14-point lead in the second half and needed a stop at the buzzer to seal their fifth consecutive victory. Shelton Mitchell had a career-high 23 points and Elijah Thomas finished with 15 for the Tigers (13-11, 3-9). ... John Collins scored 23 points and Wake Forest rolled to its first regular-season sweep of North Carolina State in a dozen years with an 88-58 victory. Keyshawn Woods added 19 points for the Demon Deacons (15-10, 6-7). Dennis Smith Jr. scored 17 points to lead the Wolfpack (14-12, 3-10). ... Cam Johnson scored 22 points, Michael Young added 21 points and 9 rebounds while Jamel Artis scored 16 points to go with 10 assists as Pittsburgh (14-11, 3-9) held off Syracuse 80-75. Andrew White and John Gillon led Syracuse (16-10, 8-5) with 20 points each. ... Tadric Jackson scored a career-high 29 points, Ben Lammers and Josh Okogie each had a double-double and Georgia Tech (15-10, 6-6) recovered from a horrible first half to beat Boston College 65-54. Jerome Robinson scored 17 points for Boston College (9-17, 2-11).
BIG EAST
Villanova rolls
CINCINNATI -- Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo scored 17 points apiece in Villanova's balanced offense, and the second-ranked Wildcats led most of the way during a 73-57 victory over No. 24 Xavier, which suffered another significant injury.
Villanova (24-2, 11-2) won a matchup of the Big East's top two teams at the Cintas Center, where the Wildcats suffered one of their five losses last season on the way to a national championship.
It was a costly game for Xavier (18-7, 8-4), which already is missing point guard Edmond Sumner to a torn ACL. Trevon Bluiett, who is second to Villanova's Josh Hart for the Big East lead in scoring, appeared to aggravate his sprained right ankle midway through the first half and had to be helped off the court.
Xavier led 12-11 when Bluiett got hurt. Villanova responded with an 11-0 run -- Kris Jenkins hit two 3s -- and the Wildcats didn't trail again. Bluiett failed to score for the first time in his three-year career. RaShid Gaston led the Musketeers with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
In other games involving Big East men's teams Saturday, Toby Hegner set a season high with 14 points and matched one with four three-pointers, Marcus Foster scored 13 points and No. 23 Creighton pounded DePaul 93-58. The balanced Bluejays (21-4, 8-4) shot a season-high 60.7 percent and nailed 13 of 22 three-pointers against the last-place Blue Demons (8-17, 1-11). ... Marcus LoVett scored 19 points, Shamorie Ponds added 17 and Tariq Owens had a double-double to lead St. John's to a 78-70 victory over Seton Hall. Owens had 12 rebounds and 10 points, plus 4 blocks, for the Red Storm (12-14, 6-7). Desi Rodriguez led the Pirates (15-9, 5-7) with 17 points. ... Jessie Govan scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead three Georgetown players with 20-plus-points and the Hoyas beat Marquette 80-62. Rodney Pryor added 20 points and 10 rebounds for Georgetown (14-12, 5-8). Jajuan Johnson led Marquette (15-10, 6-7) with 14 points. ... Alpha Diallo scored 15 points and Kyron Cartwright had 14 for Providence (15-11, 5-8) as the Friars beat No. 22 Butler 71-65. Nate Fowler scored a career-high 19 points and Kamar Baldwin had 11 rebounds for the Bulldogs (19-6, 8-5).
BIG TEN
Maryland wins
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Anthony Cowan scored 19 points, fellow freshman Kevin Huerter added 18 and No. 21 Maryland beat Ohio State 86-77 to end its first losing streak of the season.
Jaylen Brantley scored 11 points for the Terrapins, who bolted to a 9-0 lead and never trailed in completing a season sweep of the Buckeyes. The victory enabled Maryland (21-4, 9-3) to avoid its first three-game skid since 2012.
Marc Loving led the Buckeyes (15-11, 5-8) with 24 points and Jae-Sean Tate had 20.
In other games involving Big Ten men's teams Saturday, Jordan Murphy scored 17 points and had 11 rebounds to lead Minnesota past Rutgers 72-63. Nate Mason and Amir Coffey added 16 and 12 points, respectively, for the Gophers (18-7, 6-6). Rutgers (13-13, 2-11) was led by C.J. Gettys, who had a team-high eight rebounds, and Mike Williams with 14 points each. ... Payton Banks tied his career-high with 24 points, Lamar Stevens added 21 and Penn State beat Illinois 83-70. Tony Carr made six consecutive free throws and scored 19 points for Penn State (14-12, 6-7). Malcolm Hill led the way for Illinois (14-12, 4-9) with 14 points. ... Miles Bridges scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half and finished with 11 rebounds, leading Michigan State (15-10, 7-5) in a 77-66 victory over Iowa. Tyler Cook and Peter Jok scored 13 points apiece for the Hawkeyes (14-12, 6-7).
PACIFIC-12
Utah runs away
SALT LAKE CITY -- Devon Daniels and Parker Van Dyke each scored 16 points and Utah defeated Washington 85-61 in Pac-12 action.
The Utes (17-8, 8-5) ran away with the game in the first half despite trailing by eight early.
Utah took a 44-28 lead into halftime thanks to a 20-0 run. Lorenzo Bonam hit a pair of three-pointers during the stretch as the Huskies went more than nine minutes without a field goal. The Utes shot 58.1 percent in the first half.
It was more of the same in the second half as an 11-0 run stretched the Utah lead to 55-34 and Washington (9-16, 2-11) never made a significant run.
In another game involving Pac-12 men's teams Saturday, Torian Graham sank his sixth three-pointer with 21.1 seconds left to give Arizona State its first lead since the opening basket of the second half, and the Sun Devils added four late free throws to beat Stanford 75-69. Graham scored 24 points for the Sun Devils (12-14, 5-8 Pac-12), who swept the season series against the Cardinal (12-13, 4-9).
Sports on 02/12/2017