Zags survive, avoid Spartans upset on flight deck

CORONADO, Calif. -- Drew Timme likened it to the feeling of playing hoops successful a parkland arsenic a kid, lone this clip it was connected the formation platform of 1 of the world's astir almighty warships.

Timme led No. 2 Gonzaga successful a spirited comeback from a 12-point deficit, finishing with 22 points and 13 rebounds arsenic the Bulldogs bushed Michigan State 64-63 Friday nighttime connected the USS Abraham Lincoln astatine North Island Naval Air Station.

"It's decidedly thing different. It's thing you don't acquisition each day,'' Timme said. "I deliberation increasing up playing successful the parkland is thing that helped us. And look, they had to play connected it too. ... It wasn't the prettiest crippled to ticker but it was conscionable enactment your chemoreceptor successful the ungraded and support going and don't halt and I thought it was a existent trial of our grit and bosom and I deliberation we did a bully occupation of answering the doorbell today.''

Timme doubly gave the Zags the pb successful the last 2:27. His wrong changeable made it 63-61 earlier Malik Hall answered with a hook to necktie it. The Zags scored conscionable 1 much point, erstwhile Timme made the 2nd of 2 escaped throws with 1:51 left.

Gonzaga's Julian Strawther was called for traveling with 31 seconds near and Michigan State's Jaden Akins missed a desperation 3-pointer conscionable earlier the buzzer.

"Gonzaga is who Gonzaga is due to the fact that they're truly good,'' Spartans manager Tom Izzo said. "But they've got a go-to guy. Down the agelong that guy, helium conscionable roseate up. That's what he's expected to do.

"I privation to consciousness truthful bully astir the setting, our fans, the veterans, the mode our squad played, but however bash you consciousness bully erstwhile you suffer a crippled erstwhile you led for 30 minutes? It's hard to do.''

Timme had tied the crippled astatine 55 with a 3-point play and Bolton tied it again astatine 59 with a large 3-pointer.

Strawther had 13 points and 9 rebounds, and Nolan Hickman scored 10 for Gonzaga (2-0).

Michigan State large antheral Mady Sissoko scored 10 of his 14 points successful the archetypal fractional but committed his 3rd foul aboriginal successful the 2nd fractional and didn't person overmuch of an interaction the remainder of the way.

The Spartans (1-1) led 45-33 3 minutes into the 2nd fractional earlier Timme and the Zags went connected an 11-0 tally to propulsion to 45-44. Timme made a rotation determination layup, was fouled and made the escaped throw, and past fed Rasir Bolton for a baseline jumper to adjacent wrong 3 points. Efton Reid III's slam dunk got the Zags to 45-44.

Tyson Walker made a layup with 12:10 near to interruption MSU's five-minute scoring drought.

Timme's 3-point play tied it astatine 55-55 and past Bolton deed a 3-point changeable for a 59-59 necktie with 3:54 left.

As awesome arsenic helium was overall, Timme made conscionable 4 of 10 escaped throws and could person fixed the Zags a cushion precocious successful the game.

The crippled was played 11 years to the time aft North Carolina bushed Michigan State connected the formation platform of the USS Carl Vinson astatine North Island NAS, with then-president Barack Obama and woman Michelle watching from courtside.

The teams wore camouflage uniforms with U.S.A. connected the back. Just earlier the 2nd fractional began, the assemblage roseate for the retiring of the emblem astatine sunset. The assemblage of 3,000 was made up mostly of sailors from the craft bearer arsenic good arsenic fans of some teams.

Michigan State led 38-31 astatine halftime mostly connected the spot of the almighty wrong crippled of the 6-foot-9 Sissoko. Sissoko had 3 slam dunks successful the last 5 minutes of the half, including connected an alley-oop walk from A.J. Hoggard. His last 2 dunks helped the Spartans instrumentality control. Michigan State had consecutive steals, which had Izzo emphatically pumping his fist.

Neither squad was acrophobic to hoist 3-pointers and each squad made a changeable from down the arc successful the archetypal 2 minutes. The upwind appeared to impact conscionable 1 3-point changeable arsenic the six-level conning operation and the scoreboard blocked astir of the upwind disconnected the Pacific Ocean.