Utah Utes Related Links: Team Page City Page Schedule Stats

Gonzaga Bulldogs Related Links: Team Page City Page Schedule Stats

LAHAINA, Hawaii (Ticker) -- Gonzaga may have taken more than six minutes to score a basket, but that was better than Utah's scoring drought of nearly nine minutes.

Ronny Turiaf scored 24 points off the bench as 21st-ranked Gonzaga took advantage of Utah's problems for a mistake-filled 71-52 victory in the first round of the Maui Invitational.

Gonzaga (2-0) will face No. 20 Indiana in Tuesday's semifinals.

The Bulldogs looked awful early as they missed their first seven shots and trailed, 8-4. Kyle Bankhead's long jumper ended the drought just over six minutes into the game.

That shot triggered an unlikely 19-0 run that opened a comfortable lead. Back-to-back layups put the Bulldogs ahead, 12-8, and Winston Brooks made two free throws and a layup.

Blake Stepp nailed a 3-pointer, Turiaf sank two free throws and Zach Gourde had an inside hoop for a 23-8 advantage with just over seven minutes left in the half. Utah (1-1) finally got a jumper from freshman Tim Drisdom to halt the drought at eight minutes, 48 seconds.

Utah turned over the ball 12 times in the first half, leading to 17 points for Gonzaga. The Utes also misfired on 10-of-11 free throws in the first 20 minutes, including a sequence by Britton Johnsen in which he hit the right side of the backboard on his first attempt and barely drew iron on the second.

Neither team scored in the final 3 1/2 minutes of the first half as Gonzaga took a 37-20 lead into the locker room.

Bankhead scored 10 points off the bench as Gonzaga's reserves totaled 35 points. The 6-9 Turiaf put on a clinic at the line, draining 15-of-16.

That was far better than the entire Utah team. Johnsen missed the Utes' 11th attempt in 12 tries with 6:11 remaining before he finally sank a pair 30 seconds later, drawing mock cheers from the remaining fans at the Lahaina Civic Center. Utah made just 5-of-16.

Gonzaga scored 31 points off 21 turnovers while Utah managed just four points off 15 turnovers. The miscues were too much to overcome for the Utes, who committed 32 fouls.

Drisdom and Cameron Koford each fouled out and Johnsen, Tim Frost and Trace Caton finished with four apiece for Utah. Johnsen was the only Ute in double figures with 15 points.

The Bulldogs shot 77 percent (33-of-43) at the line. Stepp, who is replacing first-round draft pick Dan Dickau at point guard, had a solid floor game with nine points and five assists.

Turiaf collected eight rebounds as Gonzaga held a 29-28 advantage on the boards. The Bulldogs did not have a basket in the final 6:29 but went 11-of-12 at the line.