No. 5 Illinois downs Gonzaga; Bearcats rout Purdue

Published 12:00 am Monday, November 29, 2004

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Deron Williams and Luther Head each scored 20 points to lead No. 5 Illinois to an 89-72 win over No. 24 Gonzaga on Saturday in the John Wooden Tradition.

The Illini (4-0) set the tone from the opening tip, using superior 3-point shooting and suffocating defense to dominate the Bulldogs (3-1) and set up an early season showdown with top-ranked Wake Forest this coming Wednesday in Champaign, Ill.

Illinois made 14 of 28 3-pointers and scored 29 points off 19 Gonzaga turnovers to turn the game into a rout in the first five minutes.

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Adam Morrison led Gonzaga with 26 points and 11 rebounds and Ronny Turiaf added 12 points and nine rebounds.

No. 10 Michigan St. 102,

Nicholls St. 52

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Led by Maurice Ager's 19 points, Michigan State scored more than 100 points for the third straight game.

Kelvin Torbert added 16 points, Shannon Brown and Alan Anderson had 15 apiece and Paul Davis had 11 for the Spartans (3-0). Michigan State will take a 105.3-point average into Tuesday's game at No. 9 Duke in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Cincinnati 79,

Purdue 59

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Armein Kirkland scored 16 points to lead six players in double figures and Cincinnati defeated Purdue 79-59 Saturday in the John Wooden Tradition.

Cincinnati (3-0) held Purdue scoreless for more than six minutes and scored 15 straight points to take a 71-53 lead with 3:40 to play. Kirkland and Jihad Muhammad scored six points each in the run and Erick Hicks added four.

Purdue (1-2) played for the first time without 6-7 sophomore forward Ije Nwankwo, who left the team for personal reasons after playing in the first two games.

The Boilermakers, who got 19 points from Matt Kiefer, missed nine of their last 10 field-goal attempts and had three more shots blocked in the final 9:04. Brandon McKnight scored 16 points for Purdue and Carl Landry had 11.

The Bearcats hit 48 percent from the floor (24-of-50), while the Boilermakers managed 31 percent (20-of-64).