Saturday's Top 25 basketball: No. 1 Gonzaga beats No. 5 Texas with Few back at helm
Spokane, Wash. — Drew Timme scored a career-high 37 points as top-ranked Gonzaga beat No. 5 Texas 86-74 on Saturday night in an early-season showdown.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few returned to the sidelines after serving a three-game suspension for a DUI, sitting out two exhibition games and the season-opening win over Dixie State.
Rasir Bolton added 16 points for Gonzaga (2-0), which won a school-record 53rd consecutive home game. The Bulldogs’ last home loss was in 2018.
Timmy Allen scored 18 points for Texas (1-1), which was trying to beat a top-ranked team for the first time in program history. Instead, the Longhorns fell to 0-12 against No. 1 teams.
Timme made 15 of 19 shots from the floor to exceed his previous high of 30 points, and added seven rebounds. Anton Watson had 10 points for Gonzaga.
Gonzaga started fast, as Timme had 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting less than five minutes into the game. Gonzaga shot 59% in the first half, while the Longhorns shot just 36% and made nine fewer field goals.
Texas chipped away at the deficit as Gonzaga’s shooting cooled off in the second half. Allen had a pair of baskets during an 8-2 run that cut Gonzaga’s lead to 60-49 with 10 minutes left.
A 3-pointer by Bolton and five straight points by Timme pushed Gonzaga’s lead to 72-53 with 6:47 left. But Texas put together a 13-5 run, including consecutive 3-pointers by Allen and Marcus Carr, to cut Gonzaga’s lead to 77-66.
Gonzaga scored the next seven points for an 84-66 lead with 2:36 left and the Longhorns could not come back.
The Longhorns are the highest-ranked opponent to visit the McCarthey Athletic Center since it opened in 2004. Gonzaga has a 237-15 all-time record in the building.
Gonzaga is 4-0 against Texas, with all previous games at neutral sites.
More Saturday games
(At) No. 9 Duke 67, Campbell 56: Four Blue Devils scored in double figures as Duke held off Campbell.
Paolo Banchero led Duke (3-0) with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, seven rebounds, a steal and a block.
Ricky Clemons and Cedric Henderson Jr. each scored 18 points apiece for the Camels. Henderson also had 11 boards, helping Campbell outrebound Duke 34-31.
Campbell (2-1) built a 10-point lead in the first half while Duke’s Wendell Moore Jr. was being checked out for a potential knee injury. He returned and finished with 15 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals – one night after getting Duke’s fifth triple-double in program history.