Julian Strawther scored a game-high 26 points as No. 16 Gonzaga rallied to beat BYU 88-81 in a West Coast Conference game Saturday night in Spokane, Wash.
Drew Timme added 19 points and game-high totals of seven rebounds and eight assists for the Bulldogs (21-5 overall, 10-2 WCC), who remained a game behind Saint Mary’s in the conference race with four games remaining. Rasir Bolton scored 13 points and Anton Watson added 12.
Spencer Johnson and Fousseyni Traore each scored 17 points to lead BYU (16-12, 6-7). Noah Waterman added 12 points for the Cougars, Rudi Williams scored 11 and Jaxson Robinson had 10.
The Bulldogs, who had a 75-game winning streak at home snapped last month by Loyola Marymount, trailed for most of the second half.
Strawther made a 3-pointer with 4:09 left to tie the score at 71-all, and following a layup by BYU’s Atiki Ally Atiki, drained another trey with 3:10 to go to give Gonzaga the lead for good at 74-73.
Bolton made a 3 with 2:21 left to extend the lead to 77-73.
Strawther added three free throws after getting fouled on a 3-point attempt with 36 seconds left as the Bulldogs pulled away.
Gonzaga scored the game’s first six points and took an early 14-5 lead. The Cougars responded with three consecutive 3-pointers in a 9-2 run.
Waterman made a 3-pointer from the corner with 25 seconds left in the half to break a 34-all tie and give BYU its first lead of the game.
BYU built a six-point lead on Traore’s three-point play with 9:22 left.
The Bulldogs used a 7-0 run to regain the lead on a steal and layup by Malachi Smith with 7:17 left.
–Field Level Media
