UIW at Gonzaga

SPOKANE, Wash. – Senior point guard Jalin Hart led four Cardinals in double figures, scoring a season-high 17 points, but No. 15 Gonzaga led by 23 points at the break and never looked back, as the Bulldogs were victorious, 103-68, before 6,000 fans at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After Simi Socks' jumper tied the game at two, Gonzaga (6-1) scored the next 17 points to take a commanding 19-2 lead six-and-a-half minutes into the first half. The Bulldogs led by as many as 20 (25-5) before UIW (3-3) rattled off a couple of successful trips on offense, with a layup by Hart and a three-pointer by Shawn Johnson.

The Cardinals cut the deficit to 18 (35-17) following a Sam Burmeister trey, but the Zags would outscore UIW, 14-9, in the final 7:33 to take a 49-26 lead at halftime, despite a steal and fast-break layup by Hart in the final two minutes.

In the second half, the Zags would lead by as many as 44 in the waning stages of the second half, but three-pointers by Burmeister and Keaton Hervey sandwiching a Hart jumper kept the Cardinal offense churning. UIW had no answer for Zach Norvell, Jr., who was held to three points in the first half, but erupted for 14 in the second.

LEADERS

Hart led four Cardinals in double figures, with 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting and 3-for-4 from the charity stripe. Socks scored 12, followed by Burmeister's 11 off the bench, and Johnson's 10. The top rebounder was Socks with five. The Cardinals as a team shot 44 percent from the floor and out-blocked the Bulldogs, 2-0.

Three of the four leading scorers for the Zags came off the bench, led by Rui Hachimura (18), Norvell, Jr. (17), Josh Perkins (16), and Jacob Larsen (14); the latter being the top rebounder on the team with eight boards. The Bulldogs shot 54 percent from the floor.

Thanks to Hachimura, Norvell, Jr., and Larsen, the Zags' bench outscored the Cardinals', 56-21. The much bigger Bulldogs outscored UIW in points in the paint, 48-26.

UP NEXT

UIW returns home to face Texas Lutheran on Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. from the McDermott Center.

STAY TUNED

The Cardinals celebrate the end of finals hosting UMKC on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 3 p.m.

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