No. 3 Gonzaga rebounds to beat No. 14 Indiana

No. 3 Gonzaga rebounds to beat No. 14 Indiana

NCAA Basketball: Battle 4 Atlantis-Indiana vs. GonzagaNovember 28, 2024; Paradise Island, Bahamas, BHS; Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Khalif Battle (99) controls the ball as Indiana Hoosiers forward Mackenzie Mgbako (21) defends during the first half at Imperial Arena at Atlantis Resort. Mandatory attribution: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Khalif Battle scored 16 points to lead No. 3 Gonzaga to an 89-73 victory over No. 14 Indiana in the consolation bracket of the Battle 4 Atlantis on Paradise Island, Bahamas.

The Bulldogs’ Nolan Hickman scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half and finished the game with three 3-pointers. Michael Ajayi also scored 15 points, Graham Ike added 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting and Ben Gregg contributed 13 points in 19 minutes off the bench.

Ryan Nembhard was the main catalyst for Gonzaga (6-1), posting 13 assists and five steals in addition to his 11 points. The Bulldogs bounced back from an 86-78 overtime loss to West Virginia on Wednesday and will face either Providence or Dayton in the fifth-place game on Friday.

Indiana (4-2) led with 25 points from Oumar Ballo, including 19 in the first half. He sank 11 of his 13 field goal attempts and added four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Mackenzie Mgbako added 13 points for the Hoosiers. Other than those two, no other Indiana player scored more than six points.

The Hoosiers, who have suffered two straight losses in the tournament, will face either Providence or Dayton in the seventh-place game on Friday.

Gonzaga used a 21-2 run over 5:48 of the first half to extend its two-point lead to 54-33 with 2:33 before halftime. Gregg scored nine points in the period, capping it off with a layup and a three-pointer.

The Bulldogs took a 57-39 halftime lead as Ballo had 19 points on 8 of 9 shots from the field.

The Zags extended their lead to a game-high 23 points after a layup by Nolan Hickman with 16:01 left and then evened that lead with 5:38 left. Indiana responded with an immediate 6-0 run that pushed the deficit back to 17 and outscored Gonzaga 34-32 overall in the second half.

Gonzaga shot 48.4 percent from the floor and made six three-pointers on 20 attempts (30 percent). They outscored Indiana 42-27 in rebounding and also outscored Indiana 23-4 in second-chance points.

The Hoosiers shot 45.8 percent from the field and made four 3-pointers on 18 attempts (22.2 percent).

–Field level media

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