Chet Holmgren recorded 15 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots and No. 3 Gonzaga survived a major scare before escaping with a 64-55 victory over Tarleton State on Monday night at Spokane, Wash.
Rasir Bolton scored a team-best 17 points for the Bulldogs (7-1), who led by just two points with under six minutes left before using a 10-2 spurt to put away the Texans (1-6), who are in their second season at the Division I level.
Drew Timme, who was just 1 of 2 from the field, added 10 points for Gonzaga, which fell out of the top spot in the rankings due to their 84-81 loss to Duke on Friday. The Bulldogs extended the nation’s longest homecourt winning streak to 56 games.
Tahj Small had a career-best 25 points and added seven rebounds and Javontae Hopkins had 11 points for Tarleton State, which is coached by former Kentucky head man Billy Gillispie.
Gonzaga held a 43-27 rebounding edge and shot 46.9 percent from the field. But the Bulldogs hit on just 21.1 percent (4 of 19) from 3-point range.
Tarleton State shot 37.5 percent from the field and 5 of 17 from behind the arc.
Small drained a 3-pointer to give Tarleton State a 30-28 lead with 17:11 remaining in the game.
The Bulldogs answered with a 9-2 run to take a five-point lead. But Small scored five points in 34 seconds to knot the score at 37 with 14:02 left.
Bolton knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Bulldogs a 49-45 lead with 8:36 left. Montre Gipson answered with a layup 23 seconds later for the Texans.
But Tarleton State went scoreless for the next 4:56 as Gonzaga opened up an eight-point lead.
Timme made two free throws and Holmgren added two baskets to make it 55-47 with 4:20 left.
Gipson halted the Tarleton drought with a fast-break layup with 3:18 remaining.
Bolton responded with back-to-back baskets, the latter being a fast-break dunk to end the 10-2 burst. That gave Gonzaga a 59-49 lead with 2:21 left and served as the knockout punch.
The Bulldogs led 26-25 at halftime.
Gonzaga jumped out to a 10-3 advantage before struggling the rest of the half. The Bulldogs shot just 34.8 percent from the field and committed nine turnovers.
Gipson missed a potential go-ahead shot just before time expired in the half.
–Field Level Media
