FORT MYERS, Fla.— Drew Timme scored 25 points, Jalen Suggs had 24 and Corey Kispert added 23 as No. 1 Gonzaga pulled away from No. 6 Kansas for a 102-90 victory Thursday in the season opener for both teams.
The Bulldogs built a double-digit lead in the first half at the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off, then saw the Jayhawks tie it twice in the second half before putting them away. Gonzaga went on a 22-7 run to go up 96-78.
Suggs, who got in foul trouble in the first half, scored 17 of his 24 in the second half.
Marcus Garrett led Kansas with 22 points and Ochai Agbaji added 17 points. Agbai picked up his fourth foul midway through the second half, which hurt the Jayhawks. When he left, Kansas trailed 70-67.
The Jayhawks rallied from a 14-point deficit in the first half to tie the game at 57.
Gonzaga went on a 12-3 run to take a 20-9 lead. Timme scored eight of those points from the inside. He and the Bulldogs constantly broke down Kansas’ defense, which led to three layups in a row.
With Gonzaga leading 29-15, Kansas made a couple of runs to cut the deficit to as little as five. However, Kispert heated up and kept the Jayhawks at bay. Gonzaga led 54-46 at the half.
The Bulldogs showed great balance. While they outscored Kansas 30-14 in the paint, they made 5 of 10 3-pointers. They also made 68% of their shots in the first half (21 of 31).
(8) ILLINOIS 97, CHICAGO STATE 38: Ayo Dosunmu scored 22 points, freshman Andres Curbelo added 18 and the host Illini (2-0) topped the Cougars (0-2).
The Illini never trailed in the game, scoring the first nine points and leading 47-17 at halftime. Big man Kofi Cockburn had 13 points and 5 rebounds at the break.
Adam Miller scored 15 points and Cockburn finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds. It was Cockburn’s 14th double-double in 34 career games and his second consecutive one. He had one more rebound than the entire Chicago State team did.
Illinois shot 36 of 60 (60%) from the field and 7 of 18 (39%) from 3-point range.
Xavier Johnson led Chicago State with 10 points and Jordan Polynice had nine.
(15) WEST VIRGINIA 78, VCU 66: Derek Culver had 23 points and 15 rebounds to help the Mountaineers (2-0) top No. 15 West Virginia beat the Rams (1-1) in the Bad Boys Mowers Crossover Classic semifinals at Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
West Virginia will face Western Kentucky in the final Friday.
Culver rebounded from a seven-point game Wednesday night in the Mountaineers’ opening victory over South Dakota State, finishing two shy of his career high. He was 8 of 14 from the field.
Sean McNeil added 16 points, and Oscar Tshiebwe had 11 points and 16 rebounds.
Nah’Shon Hyland led the Rams with 13 points.
West Virginia led 13-0, with VCU scoring its first basket midway through the half on a goaltending call. After the Rams cut it to three early in the second half, the Mountaineers opened a 16-point lead.
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