Norvell leads Gonzaga over Loyola Marymount
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) Zach Norvell Jr. scored 17 points and No. 5 Gonzaga used a stout defense to beat Loyola Marymount 73-55 on Thursday night, the eighth consecutive win for the Bulldogs since a pair of losses knocked them out of the top spot in The AP Top 25.
Brandon Clarke added 13 points, Corey Kispert 12 and Rui Hachimura 10 for Gonzaga (17-2, 4-0 West Coast), which beat Loyola Marymount for the 20th straight time. The Zags have won 18 straight games at home.
James Batemon led Loyola Marymount (13-5, 1-3) with 12 points.
Loyola used a slow-down offense and stingy defense to keep the scoring low, and it mostly accomplished that goal.
Gonzaga, which averages 92 points a game, led just 17-16 midway through the first half.
The Zags went on a 19-6 run the rest of the half to take a 36-22 lead at halftime. The Lions shot only 36 percent in the first and committed 11 turnovers.
A 3-pointer by Norvell highlighted a 14-2 Gonzaga run to open the second half that lifted the Bulldogs to a 50-24 lead. Meanwhile, the Lions were missing eight of their first 10 shots.
Loyola Marymount made just five of its first 20 shots in the second half, and fell behind 61-35 with less than 8 minutes left.
BIG PICTURE
Loyola Marymount: The Lions opened the season 11-1, but have dropped off since ... The Lions ranked 13th in the NCAA in defense at 61.2 points per game ... Their last win in this lop-sided series was in 2010. They have not won in Spokane since 1991 ... The Lions have already surpassed last season's 11 wins.
Gonzaga: The Bulldogs are cruising toward another WCC title, outscoring conference foes by nearly 30 points per game... The Zags suffered back-to-back losses to No. 3 Tennessee and at No. 13 North Carolina in mid-December and have not lost since ... They lead the nation in field goal shooting at 52.6 percent and are second in scoring at 92.2 points per game ... Gonzaga and Marquette are the only programs with both men's and women's teams in the Top 15.
UP NEXT
Loyola Marymount hosts Pepperdine on Saturday.
Gonzaga plays at last place Portland on Saturday.
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