Thursdays Top 25 Capsules
January 30th, 2009 Posted in NCAA basketball news, NCAA college basketball(25) GONZAGA 69, (18) SAINT MARYS 62
SPOKANE, Washington With Patrick Mills out of the game, Gonzaga had little trouble taking the early lead in the race for the West Coast Conference crown.
Matt Bouldin scored 17 points and Steven Gray added 14 as No. 25 Gonzaga used a dominant second half with Mills sidelined, posting a 69-62 victory over 18th-ranked Saint Marys.
Jeremy Pargo chipped in 11 points for the Bulldogs (15-4, 6-0 WCC), who ended the Gaels school-record 15-game winning streak in a matchup of the only two unbeaten teams in the WCC.
The expected showdown took a hit when Mills sprained his right wrist late in the first half and did not return after the break. The Australian Olympian was bumped to the ground by Pargo on a drive to the basket and was forced to watch the rest of the game with his hand wrapped in ice.
Gonzaga, which has won the last eight WCC regular-season titles, did not have an answer for Mills in the first half as Saint Marys led by as many as eight early on. The six-foot sophomore made a career-high six 3-pointers and the Gaels held a 39-33 lead at the break.
However, with the Gaels star guard out of the lineup, the Bulldogs took full advantage and quickly turned the halftime deficit into a 46-45 lead with 13:39 to play.
Gonzaga continued its defensive intensity and scored 12 straight points – fueled by Micah Downs alley-oop dunk and Grays 3-pointer – to take a 58-48 bulge with 7:49 remaining.
Saint Marys (18-2, 5-1), which shot 33 percent (10-of-30) from the field in the second half, never got closer than six the rest of the way.
It was the 14th straight home win against the Gaels for the Bulldogs, who will visit Saint Marys in two weeks on February 12.
Mills led the way with 18 points for Saint Marys, which committed 15 turnovers. Diamon Simpson had 17 points and 12 rebounds.
(9) MICHIGAN STATE 71, IOWA 56
IOWA CITY, Iowa Kalin Lucas helped Michigan State exorcise some of the bad memories from its previous trip to Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Lucas scored 24 points and Durrell Summers added 21 as ninth-ranked Michigan State rolled to a 71-56 victory over Iowa.
Improving to 5-0 on the road in the Big Ten Conference, the Spartans latest strong effort away from home helped deal with a 43-36 upset loss here last year – one of the most embarrassing setbacks in the 14-year tenure of coach Tom Izzo.
In that game, Michigan State set a school record for the least number of points since the introduction of the shot clock. Lucas played a major role in that ineptitude, failing to score on 0-of-8 shooting over 20 minutes.
In this one, the sophomore guard finished 9-of-13 from the field in continuing a hot stretch in which he has reached 20 points in each of his last three games.
Summers also extended his hot hand, coming off a 26-point effort in Sundays 78-67 win at Ohio State.
The Spartans (17-3, 7-1 Big Ten) took control from the start, scoring the opening eight points. The Hawkeyes did close within 13-8 behind a pair of 3-pointers by freshman Matt Gatens, but Michigan State came back with a 10-2 run to open a 13-point lead – the same advantage it had at halftime.
That lead was quickly extended after intermission, as the Spartans were able to get out in transition.
Travis Walton hit a pull-up jumper in the open court with 18:14 left for a 42-26 cushion, Lucas hit a jumper and completed a layup off a steal by Goran Suton and Summers added another jump shot off an Iowa turnover to push it to 48-28.
Michigan State would later take its largest lead of the game at 50-28 on a jumper by Walton with 15:21 to play.
The Hawkeyes did make things interesting with an 18-6 burst, closing within 61-52 on a 3-pointer by Jermain Davis with 5:55 remaining. But Summers came off a screen to hit a jumper and also completed a fast-break layup after Walton knocked the ball away on a drive by Iowas Jeff Peterson to make it 65-52 with 4:47 left.
Peterson scored 14 points and Gatens 13 for the Hawkeyes (12-9, 2-6).
(11) CLEMSON 86, VIRGINIA TECH 82
BLACKSBURG, Virginia Malcolm Delaney made shots from all over the court. Yet, K.C. Rivers and Clemson still found a way to get a huge road win in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Rivers scored 29 points and Trevor Booker added 21 and 13 rebounds as No. 11 Clemson overcame a big second-half deficit to post an 86-82 victory over Virginia Tech.
A senior swingman, Rivers connected on 7-of-10 shots from the arc as Clemson (18-2, 4-2 ACC) made 14-of-25 3-pointers as a team.
Delaney drilled six 3-pointers – including one from beyond half court – en route to a career-high 37 points to lead Virginia Tech, which led by as much as 63-48 with 16:40 to play before Clemson roared back.
Rivers scored six straight points and Demontez Stitt made the go-ahead 3-pointer as Clemson scored 18 straight points to take a 66-63 advantage with 10:24 remaining.
The Tigers pushed the lead up to six but Jeff Allen capped a 10-2 run with a breakaway dunk to give the Hokies a 76-74 edge with 4:44 left to play.
Delaneys sixth 3-pointer put Virginia Tech on top, 79-76, but Clemson again responded and David Potters only two baskets of the game proved to be the difference.
Potter tied the score on a layup with just over two minutes to play and gave the Tigers the lead for good at 83-80 on a 3-pointer with 1:23 left.
After Virginia Tech scored, Rivers made a long jumper to push the Clemson lead to 85-82 with 51 seconds remaining and the Hokies went 0-for-3 from the arc down the stretch. A.D. Vassallo rushed a 3-pointer from the right wing with 22 seconds to go and Potter made one of two free throws to seal the victory.
Delaney scored 22 of his points in the first half and capped off his sizzling session with a buzzer-beater from beyond the half-court line to give the Hokies a 53-44 advantage at the break. The sophomore shot 11-of-17 from the floor overall and made 9-of-10 from the foul line.
WASHINGTON STATE 65, (14) ARIZONA STATE 55
TEMPE, Arizona Freshman Klay Thompson, Aron Baynes and Taylor Rochestie combined for 61 points as Washington State surprised No. 14 Arizona State, 65-55.
Thompson and Baynes did their damage as the Cougars (12-8, 4-4 Pac-10) took a 46-43 advantage midway through the second half. From there, Rochestie came to life, hitting a 3-point shot to double the advantage for his first points of the game.
The Sun Devils cut the deficit to 51-49 with a mini-run of 6-2, but Rochestie hit another shot from behind the arc to open the gap to five. Rochestie scored all 11 of his points in the final seven minutes and the Cougars outscored the Sun Devils, 38-25, over the final 20 minutes.
Arizona State led 39-32 with 15:54 left as James Harden hit a pair of free throws. Washington State then went on a 9-0 run as Thompson connected on three shots from beyond the arc.
Derek Glasser hit a 3-pointer to give the lead back to Arizona State at 43-41, but the Cougars countered with an 8-0 run to take the lead for good.
Thompson finished with 28 points on 10-of-17 from the field, including 8-of-10 from beyond the arc. Baynes added 22, including 8-of-8 from the foul line.
Thompson and Baynes were 17-of-31 from the field while the rest of the Cougars were only 4-of-18. Washington State hit 13-of-14 free throws as opposed to 10-of-17 for the Sun Devils.
James Harden led the Sun Devils (16-4, 5-3) with 26 points. No other player on Arizona State reached double figures.
Arizona State hit only 19-of-51 shots, with Harden recording eight of the baskets but also missing 12 attempts.
(16) UCLA 81, CALIFORNIA 66
LOS ANGELES Darren Collison scored 20 points and UCLA made sure Californias visit to Pauley Pavilion proved unbearable.
A surge midway through the second half powered the 16th-ranked Bruins to an 81-66 victory over the Golden Bears in a Pac-10 clash.
Leading 38-30, UCLA unfurled a torrid 13-0 stretch to muzzle California. Nikola Dragovic ignited the tear with a 3-pointer and Michael Roll capped it with a pair of free throws.
The Golden Bears (16-5, 5-3 Pac-10) went scoreless for 4 1/2 minutes until Theo Robertson hit a layup and was fouled by Jrue Holiday. Robertson completed the three-point play to make it 51-33.
UCLA (16-4, 6-2) got that right back as Roll connected from beyond the arc to douse any hopes Cal had of a comeback.
Cal was paced by Robertson with 19 points.
(24) MINNESOTA 59, (20) ILLINOIS 36
MINNEAPOLIS Lawrence Westbrook scored 15 points and No. 24 Minnesota used some stifling defense to upend No. 20 Illinois, 59-36.
Westbrook shot 6-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc as the only player in the contest with more than 10 points.
Ralph Sampson III added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Golden Gophers (18-3, 6-3 Big Ten), who beat the Fighting Illini (17-4, 5-3) for the first time since 1999 – snapping a 20-game slide.
Dominique Keller finished with nine points to lead Illinois, which ended 15-of-51 (29 percent) from the floor.
