Rui Hachimura overcame a foul-plagued first half and scored 15 of his 24 points in the second half Tuesday night as No. 3 Gonzaga reached the final of the Maui Invitational with a 91-74 win over Arizona at the Lahaina, Hawaii.
Zach Norvell Jr. added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs (5-0), who will meet No. 1 Duke on Wednesday for the tournament title. The Blue Devils held off eighth-ranked Auburn 78-72 in the first semifinal.
Josh Perkins and Brandon Clarke netted 18 points each, with Perkins adding nine assists and hitting 4 of 8 3-point attempts.
"We started defending better and then took better care of the ball," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "We took better care of the ball in the second half."
Justin Coleman poured in a game-high 28 points for the Wildcats (4-1) on just 12 shot attempts, canning a half-dozen 3-pointers and going 8-for-8 at the foul line. Brandon Randolph scored 19 points, and Brandon Williams added 15, including hitting 8 of 9 free throws.
Arizona used the free-throw line to build a 45-37 halftime lead.
The Wildcats went 19 of 22 at the stripe as the Zags fouled repeatedly. Gonzaga was whistled for 16 fouls in the half, negating good first-shot defense that held Arizona to 40.7 percent from the floor and a 19-16 rebounding edge.
The margin grew to 50-37 less than a minute into the second half when Coleman made a 3-pointer. It was 51-41 after Chase Jeter made a foul shot with 16:25 left. At that point, Gonzaga took over.
The Bulldogs outscored the Wildcats 40-23 for the game's remainder, taking the lead for good with Clarke's layup at the 9:06 mark that made it 62-61.
Arizona lost Jeter, a Duke transfer, with 12:03 left when he was called for his fourth foul and then drew a technical for his fifth foul.
Perkins and Norvell hit consecutive 3-pointers in an 18-second span for a 79-67 advantage with 3:51 remaining, putting the game away.
--Field Level Media
Arizona | Gonzaga | |
Justin Coleman 28 | Scoring | Rui Hachimura 24 |
Brandon Williams 2 | Assists | Josh Perkins 9 |
Ryan Luther 8 | Rebounds | Zach Norvell Jr. 10 |
Justin Coleman 8 | Free Throws Made | Zach Norvell Jr. 5 |
Brandon Randolph 2 | Steals | Rui Hachimura 2 |
N/A | Blocks | Brandon Clarke 4 |