Gonzaga holds off San Francisco
Published 1:30 am Saturday, January 12, 2019
SAN FRANCISCO — Brandon Clarke scored 24 points and the No. 5 Gonzaga men’s basketball team got a tiebreaking 3-pointer from Zach Norvell Jr. with less than three minutes remaining to spark a 15-2 run to finish off a 96-83 victory over San Francisco on Saturday night.
Rui Hachimura added 21 points and Josh Perkins added 16 with some clutch baskets down the stretch to lead the Bulldogs (16-2, 3-0 WCC) to their 17th straight conference win, including the postseason tournament.
The Dons (14-3, 2-1) lost by 28 points to Gonzaga in the WCC semifinals last year but showed they have closed the gap a bit this season behind another strong performance by Frankie Ferrari, who led the way with 21 points.
Ferrari hit three free throws with 5:24 to play to give the Dons a 75-74 lead, their first edge since early in the first half. The game went back and forth from there with Perkins hitting a pull-up and a 3-pointer for Gonzaga and USF answering with a reverse by Jordan Ratinho and a floater from Ferrari.
The game turned in Gonzaga’s favor when Norvell hit his 3 to make it 84-81. After Jimbo Lull missed a shot down low for the Dons, drawing complaints for a foul by coach Kyle Smith, the Bulldogs answered with another 3 by Geno Crandall to take control.
Clarke added a key block late to help seal Gonzaga’s 15th straight win in the series.
This was one of the tougher contests as USF seemed poised for its first win against a top five team since beating No. 5 Wichita State in Hawaii on Dec. 29, 1981, before falling just short at the end.
Gonzaga built a 10-point lead before the Dons closed the first half on a 16-6 run helped by three baskets from Ferrari to tie the game at 37 at the break.
