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Gonzaga Basketball

Live updates: Gonzaga holds off late Illinois charge in Maui Invitational opener

Follow along here for updates and analysis as the Gonzaga Bulldogs play the Illinois Fighting Illini at Lahaina Civic Center in Maui, Hawaii. You can watch the game on ESPN2.

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Second half

Final – Gonzaga 84, Illinois 78: Air ball from Trent Frazier is rebounded by Jeremy Jones, who gets fouled and makes both free throws.

Gonzaga escapes a tough test from the Fighting Illini team.

Arizona tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. for GU. Other semifinal is top-ranked Duke against No. 8 Auburn.

Full recap online shortly.

0:30 – Gonzaga 80, Illinois 78: Massive 3-pointer from Corey Kispert gives Gonzaga a touch of room. Illinois then misses the front end of a 1-and-1 and Rui Hachimura draws a foul to earn a pair of free throw – which he makes one of two.

Rui up to 21 points for GU.

Gonzaga looked to have it put away after a Brandon Clarke alley-oop, but a massive four-point play from Trent Frazier cut the lead back to two.

Zags work the clock down to 30 seconds, but can’t get a good shot off and Illinois will have the ball back down just two.

3:57 – Gonzaga 71, Illinois 69: Trent Frazier is going off for the Illini. The speedy guard is up to 23 points.

Zags finally break the Illinois run with a Brandon Clarke bucket, but Illinois answers right back followed by Josh Perkins’ sixth turnover. Blink of an eye stuff right here as this has been GU’s biggest test of the season by a mile.

A game that was in the bag five minutes ago might go down to the wire.

6:30 – Gonzaga 69, Illinois 65: Here comes the Fighting Illini as the lead is down to just four after back-to-back triples get the Big Ten school right back in it.

GU coach Mark Few calls a timeout as the Zags look lost after being in control for the last 20 minutes.

8:00 – Gonzaga 69, Illinois 57: Difference in this one has come at the charity stripe as the Zags have hit 20 of 29 free throws compared to 7 of 11 for the Fighting Illini.

Zach Norvell Jr. into double figures as well for the Zags with 15 points. There hasn’t been that big scoring burst yet that GU has had in most games this season, but that’s not really possible in this foul-fest.

Jeremy Jones notches the first double-double of the night for GU with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Best game for Jones in quite a while, delivering when he was needed in the first half.

Zags shooting a staggering 61.5 percent from the floor this half and 55 percent overall, compared to 43.5 percent this half and 40 percent overall for Illinois.

The Fighting Illini are being led by big man Giorgi Bezhanishvili (17 points, 5 rebounds) and Trent Frazier (15 points).

11:36 – Gonzaga 62, Illinois 51: Bulldogs looking much more like themselves on offense this half with both Rui Hachimura and Brandon Clarke staying on the floor and out of foul trouble. Hachimura has a team-high 16 points, while Clarke is keeping other defenders occupied and off Rui.

Zach Norvell Jr. also getting going after a slow first half. Snacks hits his first triple of the game at the 14:40 mark of the half and has nine. points.

GU has owned the first few minutes of the second half this season, a trend that is continuing tonight against Illinois.

Josh Perkins quietly getting his work done tonight as he becomes the third Gonzaga player into double figures with 10 points to go along with his seven assists. He’ll want to clean up on his five turnovers before tomorrow’s game against either Arizona (if GU wins) or Iowa State (GU loss).

This game once again slowing to a crawl as whistles and trips to the free-throw line are becoming more frequent.

16:53 – Gonzaga 48, Illinois 38: Rui Hachimura on a mission to start the second half, as he powers into the paint for four quick points. He’s up to 14 to lead the Bulldogs.

Hachimura also dominating on the defensive end. Zags have no blocks on the stat sheet, but haven’t given the Illini many clean looks.

Gonzaga now shooting 53.1 percent from the floor after the strong start. Illinois at 40.5 percent shooting.

Zags also up to their leargest lead of the game at 10 points.

First half

Halftime – Gonzaga 39, Illinois 32: Turnovers galore at the end of the first 20 minutes. Neither offense had a chance to get comfortable with the constant whistles.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few visably angry after an offensive foul call against Rui Hachimura. 23 fouls called in a sluggish first half.

Illinois big man Giorgi Bezhanishvili leads the Fighting Illini with 11 points, while Jeremy Jones has 12 points and seven rebounds in a stellar half for the reserve forward.

GU shooting 51.9 percent from the floor and 30 percent from 3-point range, while Illinois is shooting at 37.5 percent overall and 25 percent from deep.

Zags winning the battle on the boards (25-14), assists (9-4) and points in the paint (20-16). Turnovers in favor of Illinois (14-9).

4:24 – Gonzaga 31, Illinois 27: Josh Perkins up to four assists, two of which have led to wide-open layups for Jeremy Jones, who has eight points and five rebounds.

Foul trouble strikes Illinois first as starting forward Adonis De La Rosa picks up his third and goes to the bench, quickly followed by an offensive foul call on guard Andres Feliz, his second.

Rui Hachimura the first player into double figures with 10 points. Filip Petrusev still at five points for the Zags, while Zach Norvell Jr. has yet to get a bucket.

Giorgi Bezhanishvili has nine points for Illinois.

7:46 – Gonzaga 25, Illinois 22: Zags doing a fantastic job on the boards, grabbing 16 rebounds to Illinois’ nine.

Fouls becoming a big stat to watch on both sides. Gonzaga is already in the bonus and should get plenty of looks at the free-throw line. Meanwhile Zach Norvell Jr. picks up his second foul for GU.

Illinois heating up from 3-point range to keep this one close. Fighting Illini hit two in a row off what looked to be broken possessions.

Pace of this one getting faster by the minute as both defenses have hands everywhere. GU now up to nine turnovers, while Illinois has turned the ball over five times.

Huge 3-pointer before the media timeout from Josh Perkins puts the Zags back up front.

11:48 – Gonzaga 15, Illinois 14: Filip Petrusev dominating on the glass. He snatches two 50-50 boards with ease, drawing fouls on both.

More action from the GU bench as guard Geno Crandall and forward Jeremy Jones check in. Not sure we’ll see the Zags go much deeper than that unless the score gets out of hand or there’s an injury.

Petrusev up to five points and four boards.

Bulldogs shooting 38.5 percent overall so far, while the Fighting Illini are shooting 40 percent from the floor.

Turnovers also hurting the Zags early on, as the Bulldogs have already given it up six times.

15:57 – Gonzaga 8, Illinois 6: Mostly on-time start for this one, delayed by Bill Walton in a grass skirt.

Keeping with the odd start to things, Gonzaga gets on the board quick with a Rui Hachimura 3-pointer from corner. The junior worked on his outside game quite a bit this summer while playing with his national team in Japan.

Huge test early for the Zags though as big man Brandon Clarke picks up two fouls in the first 90 seconds. In checks freshman forward Filip Petrusev. With the injury to Killian Tillie and the departure of Jacob Larsen, the depth at forward isn’t, well, deep.

Not the offensive start that either team would like. Defenses playing tight, but some good looks for Gonzaga just haven’t dropped.

Giorgi Bezhanishvili leading the way for Illinois with six points. Hachimura with all eight for the Zags.

Gonzaga starting 5 against Illinois

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Gonzaga roster

No.

Name

Pos

Ht

Class

11

Joel Ayayi

G

6-5

Fr

2

Jack Beach

G

6-3

So

15

Brandon Clarke

G

6-8

Jr

0

Geno Crandall

G

6-3

Sr

4

Greg Foster Jr.

G

6-5

Fr

21

Rui Hachimura

F

6-8

Jr

22

Jeremy Jones

F

6-7

Sr

24

Corey Kispert

F

6-6

So

10

Matthew Lang

G

6-3

Fr

14

Jacob Larsen

C

6-11

So

5

Alex Martin

G

6-5

Jr

23

Zach Norvell Jr.

G

6-5

So

20

Paul Pennington

G

5-10

Fr

13

Josh Perkins

G

6-3

Sr

3

Filip Petrusev

F

6-11

Fr

33

Killian Tillie

F

6-10

Jr

Illinois roster

No.

Name

Pos

Ht

Class

15

Giorgi Bezhanishvili

F

6-9

Fr

3

Drew Cayce

G

6-1

Jr

12

Adonis De La Rosa

C

7-0

Sr

11

Ayo Dosunmu

G

6-5

Fr

10

Andres Feliz

G

6-2

Jr

1

Trent Frazier

G

6-1

So

0

Alan Griffin

G

6-5

Fr

4

Zach Griffith

F

6-6

So

22

Anthony Higgs

F

6-8

Fr

5

Tevian Jones

G

6-7

Fr

23

Aaron Jordan

G

6-5

Sr

34

Samba Kane

C

7-0

Fr

2

Kipper Nichols

F

6-6

Jr

35

Samson Oladimeji

G

6-4

Jr

32

Tyler Underwood

G

6-2

Jr

20

Da’Monte Williams

G

6-3

So