National Basketball Association
Gonzaga 69, Arizona 62
When: 5:30 PM ET, Saturday, December 3, 2016
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Officials:
# Verne Harris, # Mike Reed, # Michael Greenstein
Attendance:
7952
By The Sports Xchange
Gonzaga guard Josh Perkins said the Bulldogs owed Arizona some "payback" for losses in three consecutive seasons.
They got it Saturday.
And much of that was because the Wildcats had no answer for Gonzaga's Przemek Karnowski.
The 7-foot-1, 300-pound center hit 9 of 13 shots and scored 18 points as the eighth-ranked Bulldogs held off shorthanded No. 16 Arizona 69-62 at the Hoophall LA doubleheader event at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
"We came out and we were in attack mode," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "I thought we got our hands on a lot of loose balls and were really active."
Karnowski often muscled close to the basket, finishing with both hands, hitting jump hooks and fade-away jumpers in the lane over the man-to-man defense of Dusan Ristic and Chance Comanche.
Assistant Joe Pasternack said the Wildcats had to pick their poison with Karnowski, who did not play last season when Arizona beat Gonzaga 68-63 in Spokane, Wash.
On Saturday, he had his best game of the season.
"We decided to not trap him in the post. The previous teams, Iowa State and Florida, just got killed because he's such an amazing passer out of the post. We didn't want to give up 3s with him passing it out. We decided to take our medicine.
"I don't know if we'll play a better offensive post player this year."
Perkins did his part in a matchup of two of the best programs in the West, scoring 16 points for Gonzaga, which is 8-0 and off to its best start since it opened 9-0 in 2012-13.
Arizona (6-2) had only seven available scholarship players and was without point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright, who suffered a high ankle sprain on Wednesday night.
The Wildcats were down 38-26 at halftime and trailed by double digits until forward Lauri Markkanen's jumper made it 59-50 with 5:34 to go. Arizona closed within 63-58 on Comanche's one-hander in the lane with 1:28 left, but Gonzaga guard Nigel Williams-Goss answered with a runner in the lane.
The Wildcats, who were 1 of 8 from behind the arc, missed two 3-pointers down the stretch.
Gonzaga was 7 of 21 from 3-point range after making five of its first seven.
"The game was probably not aesthetically pleasing by most standards," Few said.
Freshman guard Rawle Alkins led Arizona with 16 points. Markkanen scored 14, and Ristic had 12. Kadeem Allen, who switched from shooting guard to starting point guard, had 10 points and five turnovers.
Gonzaga took control from the start with back-to-back 3-pointers from guard Jordan Mathews and Williams-Goss, prompting Arizona coach Sean Miller to call a timeout 51 seconds into the game. The Bulldogs hit five of their first seven 3-pointers and led by as many as 14 points on three occasions in the first half.
Mathews and Williams-Goss each finished with 10 points.
"When you play teams as good as Gonzaga, you can't dig yourselves a hole like that," Pasternack said. "But our guys really fought back, and really defended, finally, in the second. I was really proud of our guys effort with the adversity they have been going through."
NOTES: Arizona G Allonzo Trier, who has not played this season due to an unspecified eligibility issue, traveled with the team but spent the game in street clothes. The school has not had a comment about Trier's status or a timetable for his potential return. ... Arizona and Gonzaga have met in each of the past four seasons, with the Bulldogs ending a three-game skid in the series Saturday. The teams are scheduled to meet in Phoenix next season. Arizona leads the all-time series 6-2. ... The Bulldogs continue against Pac-12 competition by playing host to cross-state rival Washington in Spokane on Wednesday.
Top Game Performances
| Gonzaga |
|
Arizona |
|
Przemek Karnowski 18 |
Scoring |
Rawle Alkins 16 |
|
Nigel Williams-Goss 3 |
Assists |
Kadeem Allen 3 |
|
Zach Collins 8 |
Rebounds |
Lauri Markkanen 8 |
|
Josh Perkins 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Lauri Markkanen 6 |
|
Jordan Mathews 2 |
Steals |
Rawle Alkins 2 |
|
Zach Collins 2 |
Blocks |
Kadeem Allen 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Gonzaga
|
69 |
44.4 |
7-21 |
14-22 |
9 |
28 |
7 |
7 |
9 |
| Arizona
|
62 |
38.6 |
1-8 |
17-26 |
7 |
35 |
2 |
7 |
12 |
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