OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Gonzaga’s Zach Norvell Jr. got off to a slow start against Creighton for the second year in a row. Like…
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Gonzaga’s Zach Norvell Jr. got off to a slow start against Creighton for the second year in a row. Like last year, he finished with a flurry.
Norvell scored 23 of his career-high 28 points in the second half, and top-ranked Gonzaga wiped out an early double-digit deficit and beat Creighton 103-92 on Saturday.
Norvell’s shot was off throughout the first 20 minutes. Coming out of halftime, coach Mark Few drew up a play just for him. Norvell took a pass from Rui Hachimura, went hard to the basket and converted a three-point play. He scored nine of the Zags’ first 11 points of the half.
« When he makes his first one, » Few said, « it’s game on. »
Norvell has had a habit of starting slowly. Gonzaga, missing two key players because of injury, needed all the points he could provide against a high-scoring Creighton team.
« I wanted to be aggressive starting off the half, get myself a chance to get going, » Norvell said, « and it went well. »
Last year, Norvell scored all 21 of his points in the second half in a 91-74 come-from-behind victory over the Bluejays in Spokane, Washington.
« We played 40 minutes of pretty good basketball against them the last two years, » Creighton coach Greg McDermott said.
