THURSDAY’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL AT A GLANCE

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No. 5 Gonzaga 73, Loyola Marymount 55

SPOKANE, WASH.

Zach Norvell Jr. scored 17 points and No. 5 Gonzaga used a stout defense to beat Loyola Marymount, 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.

No. 6 Michigan State 70, Nebraska 64

LINCOLN, NEB.

Cassius Winston scored a career-high 29 points, Nick Ward added 15 and sixth-ranked Michigan State pulled away from Nebraska late. Michigan State (16-2, 7-0) relied on tough defense to extend its school-record Big Ten winning streak to 19 games. The Cornhuskers (13-5, 3-4) had their school-record 20-game home win streak end. The Spartans led by 12 points in the final 2 minutes, but Nebraska cut the lead to four twice before Matt McQuaid made a pair of free throws for his first points with 14.2 seconds to put the game away. Nebraska shot a season-low 32.8 percent and was just 5 of 26 on 3-pointers, 1 of 12 in the second half. James Palmer, who led Nebraska with 24 points, struggled mightily from the field, going 6 of 21, but he made all 11 of his free throws. Isaac Copeland added 13 for the Huskers. Winston scored eight of the Spartans’ first 18 field goals and assisted on five others, but his teammates were the ones who finally created some separation. Aaron Henry hit a 3-pointer, Kenny Goins scored off Ward’s great entry pass and Henry had a lay-in to finish a 7-0 spurt that gave Michigan State its biggest lead of the game to that point, 51-44. Nebraska got it back to three points, but Ward’s layin and Winston’s 3-pointer made it 56-48. The Huskers came out with the intent to slow the pace and were mostly successful. Michigan State closed the half on an 11-2 run to lead 33-28 at the break. The Huskers, who trailed at halftime for the first time in 10 home games, shot just 28.6 percent and had only one field goal in the last 4:47.

WOMEN

No. 4 Louisville 91, Virginia 43

LOUISVILLE, KY.

Asia Durr scored 20 points in 23 minutes as No. 4 Louisville routed Virginia. The Cardinals (16-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) shot a season-best 57 percent from the field. They broke the game open with a 24-3 run to start the second quarter. Durr scored the final five points of the burst as her 3-pointer gave Louisville a 39-17 lead with 2:20 left in the half. That dominance carried over to the second half where the Cardinals used a 19-2 third quarter run to ensure there would be no comeback by the Cavaliers (7-11, 1-4). The Cavaliers were led by Dominique Toussaint’s nine points.

No. 7 Mississippi State 89, No. 15 South Carolina 74

STARKVILLE, MISS.

Teaira McCowan had one of the best nights of her career, finishing with 26 points and 24 rebounds to lead Mississippi State past South Carolina. Mississippi State (17-1, 5-0) beat the Gamecocks for just the second time in 14 tries dating back to 2011. It was a tight game for most of the night, but the Bulldogs never trailed in the fourth quarter, largely thanks to McCowan’s dominant game in the post. The 6-foot-7 All-American earned her 54th career double-double with one of her best performances. She had 12 offensive rebounds and shot 9 of 15 from the field. She matched South Carolina in rebounding all by herself, 24-24. South Carolina (12-5, 4-1) was led by Te’a Cooper’s 27 points.

No. 17 Michigan State 77, No. 9 Maryland 60

EAST LANSING, MICH.

Jenna Allen scored 16 points and Nia Clouden added 15 to lift Michigan State to a victory over Maryland. The Spartans (13-4, 3-3 Big Ten) led almost throughout, racing out to a 20-4 advantage in the first quarter. Maryland (15-2, 4-2) closed to within three at halftime, but Michigan State took control again in the third in this matchup between the highest-ranked Big Ten teams in this week’s AP Top 25. It was the second victory over a top-10 team for the Spartans this season.

No. 12 Syracuse 82, Pittsburgh 50

PITTSBURGH

Digna Strautmane scored 22 points, nine in the pivotal third quarter, and Syracuse won its ninth straight, beating Pittsburgh. Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi added 16 points and Tiana Mangakahia 14, also nine in the third quarter, as the Orange (15-2, 4-0 ACC) outscored the Panthers 28-8 to break the game open. Mangakhia had five points in an 8-0 surge early in the third quarter that pushed the lead to 48-35 and then Strautmane had six in a 14-0 run. By the end of the quarter, when Syracuse was 7 of 15 from the field with 3 3-pointers and 11 of 12 from the line, a six-point lead became swelled to a 66-40 lead.

Associated Press