National Basketball Association
Gonzaga 73, Connecticut 70
When: 12:30 PM ET, Friday, November 27, 2015
Where: Imperial Arena at Atlantis Resort, Nassau
Officials:
# Darron George, # Jamie Luckie, # Mike Roberts
Attendance:
2122
By The Sports Xchange
Gonzaga forward Kyle Wiltjer scored 17 points and guard Kyle Dranginis had a key putback in the final minute as the 10th-ranked Bulldogs held off a furious rally from No. 18 UConn for a 73-70 win in the third-place game in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament at Paradise Island, Bahamas on Friday.
Gonzaga (4-1) led by 21 points early in the second half but was clinging to a 71-70 lead when Dranginis rebounded a miss by post Domantas Sabonis and scored on a layup with 50 seconds left.
Dranginis stole the ball on the ensuing possession, but the Huskies (4-2) forced a shot clock violation and had two shots to tie in the final seconds. UConn guard Sterling Gibbs had a 3-point attempt blocked by center Przemek Karnowski, and then guard Rodney Purvis failed to draw iron on his 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Dranginis had only seven points, but he added eight rebounds and five assists while having the primary defensive assignment on UConn forward Daniel Hamilton, who was 5 of 16 from the field en route to his 14 points.
Forward Shonn Miller had 19 points to lead the Huskies, who made only 1 of 12 shots from 3-point range.
Wiltjer was 3 of 9 from beyond the arc. Guard Eric McClellan added 15 points for Gonzaga. Sabonis came off the bench for 12 points and nine rebounds.
Gonzaga hit 7 of 12 3-point shots in the first half, ending on a 19-7 run to take a 43-27 lead at the break. The Bulldogs expanded the advantage to 48-27 early in the second half before the Huskies rallied.
Top Game Performances
Connecticut |
|
Gonzaga |
Shonn Miller 19 |
Scoring |
Kyle Wiltjer 17 |
Jalen Adams 2 |
Assists |
Kyle Dranginis 5 |
Daniel Hamilton 7 |
Rebounds |
Domantas Sabonis 9 |
Rodney Purvis 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Josh Perkins 2 |
Sterling Gibbs 2 |
Steals |
Eric McClellan 2 |
Jalen Adams 2 |
Blocks |
Kyle Dranginis 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Connecticut
|
70 |
41.9 |
1-12 |
17-20 |
8 |
31 |
4 |
7 |
10 |
Gonzaga
|
73 |
45.2 |
10-24 |
7-11 |
14 |
32 |
3 |
5 |
11 |