Drew Timme scored 26 points as No. 15 Gonzaga pulled away from Northern Illinois in the second half for an 88-67 nonconference win on Monday night in Spokane, Wash.
Timme hit 9 of 15 shots from the field and added six rebounds for the Bulldogs (8-3), while reserves Ben Gregg and Malachi Smith added 18 and 14 points, respectively. Gonzaga sank 50 percent of its shots in the second half in posting its third straight win.
Keshawn Williams enjoyed a good game for the Huskies (3-7), scoring 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting and adding eight rebounds. Teammate Anthony Crump hit for 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting and added eight boards as well.
But Northern Illinois didn’t have enough production out of its other players to pull off the upset. The Huskies got just seven field goals from the other seven players who saw action. Second-leading scorer David Coit was only 3 of 11 from the field for nine points.
The Bulldogs led by six points at the half before finally establishing control. Smith nailed a 3-pointer with 11:24 remaining in the game for a 61-49 lead. Gonzaga led by double digits for the game’s remainder, stretching the margin as high as 21 on two occasions.
Timme got off the mark right away with a couple of buckets, but the game’s first 10 minutes was more about both teams struggling to score. The Zags led 16-6 at the 10:24 mark after Gregg delivered a pair of free throws and a layup.
Gonzaga led 22-10 with 6:51 left when Nolan Hickman converted a turnaround jumper, but Northern Illinois finally found some traction in the last 6 1/2 minutes. Williams rattled off 10 points in a span of less than four minutes as the Huskies chopped a 12-point deficit in half.
It was Williams’ alley-oop dunk off Coit’s feed with 1:26 remaining that enabled Northern Illinois to bring its deficit to 36-30 at halftime.
–Field Level Media
