Recap and highlights: Khalif Battle heats up in second half as No. 6 Gonzaga outlasts Arizona State 88-80

Nov. 10—Many anticipated that sixth-ranked Gonzaga would get a scare from the first Big 12 team on its regular-season schedule.

After a 38-point blowout of eighth-ranked Baylor in the opener, the real challenge came on Sunday from Arizona State — a team picked to finish eight spots lower than the Bears in the preseason Big 12 coaches poll.

Gonzaga withstood flurry after flurry from Bobby Hurley’s Sun Devils, but came up with the plays it needed down the stretch to emerge with a 88-80 victory in front of a sellout crowd at McCarthey Athletic Center.

Braden Huff was the first sub off Gonzaga’s bench and led Mark Few’s team in scoring with 21 points on 9 of 13 shooting and four rebounds.

Khalif Battle gave Gonzaga’s backcourt a spark with 19 points on 4 of 8 shooting, 3 of 6 from the 3-point line and 8 of 8 from the free throw line. Battle elevated for an acrobatic alley-oop dunk on a high lob from Ryan Nembhard midway through the second half — one of a few momentum-turning plays that helped the Zags overcome a four-point deficit and improve to 2-0 on the season.

Nembhard was responsible for another one of those moments, knocking down an NBA-range 3-pointer to tie the game at 67-67 with 7 minutes, 45 seconds remaining. Nembhard was stellar running Gonzaga’s offense once again, dishing out 11 assists for the second straight game to go along with 13 points.

The senior point guard delivered another alley-oop pass late in the second half — this time to Huff — to give the Zags an 82-76 lead with 39 seconds remaining.

The lead changed seven times in the first half and Amier Ali knocked down a mid-range jumper from the top of the key to tie things at 38-38 entering the halftime break. That came moments after Dusty Stromer buried a 3-pointer off the glass to give the Zags a two-point lead.

Stromer’s long 3 as one of just three triples for a Gonzaga team that missed nine of its long-range attempts during the opening frame. The Bulldogs improved their 3-point percentage in the…

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Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2024-11-11 03:04:00

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