PROVO, Utah – Noah Hartsock had 24 points and 14 rebounds to lead BYU to an 83-73 win over No. 24 Gonzaga on Thursday night.
Matt Carlino added 18 points and five assists for the Cougars (19-6 overall, 7-3 West Coast Conference) and Brandon Davies had 15 points. Anson Winder got his first start and had 10 points, five assists and three steals.
Reserve Sam Dower scored 15 points for Gonzaga (17-4, 7-2). Gary Bell Jr. added 14 for the Bulldogs, Marquise Carter had 13 and Robert Sacre 11.
The Cougars, who had 12 steals in the first half, led 38-24 at the break. BYU stretched the lead to 55-36 with 13:30 to go before the Bulldogs trimmed it to nine in the final two minutes.
Gonzaga was only 3 of 19 from 3-point range, and BYU was slightly better at 3 of 12. The Cougars outscored the Zags 44-36 in the paint and had 22 points off 19 turnovers.
Gonzaga, behind defensive pressure that forced BYU into some sloppy turnovers and a few bad shots, trimmed BYU’s lead to 65-55 with two Michael Hart free throws.
David Stockton missed an open 3 that could have trimmed the margin further, and a hook by Davies with 1:30 remaining put the Cougars back ahead by 12 and in command.
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