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Duke Basketball: Gonzaga storms back against Arizona, set for Blue Devils

By Kevin Connelly

LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 20: Rui Hachimura #21 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs sets up to take a jump shot during the first half of the game against the Arizona Wildcats at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 20, 2018 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 20: Rui Hachimura #21 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs sets up to take a jump shot during the first half of the game against the Arizona Wildcats at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 20, 2018 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /
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Gonzaga stormed back on late Tuesday night, early Wednesday morning, against Arizona and they have secured a date with Duke Basketball Wednesday night.

What a turnaround for the No. 3 Gonzaga Bulldogs against the Arizona Wildcats in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational.

The Zags were down nine points to Arizona at halftime and mounted a twenty five point swing in the second half to win 91-74.

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The Wildcats were able to turnover Gonzaga in the first half, but in the second half the Zags only turned the ball over two times in the second half to go along with their scorching second half shooting.

Rui Hachimura led the way for Gonzaga as he dropped in 24 points and six rebounds while Zach Norvell Jr. added 20 points in the Zags win along with ten rebounds and six assists.

Arguably, Gonzaga’s best current player, Josh Perkins, added 18 points, nine assists, four rebounds, and two steals.

Brandon Clarke also added 18 points for the Zags as well as four rebounds, two assists, and four blocks.

The Zags bench was virtually nonexistent, only contributing four points and nine rebounds amongst four players.

However, Gonzaga will be without one of their best players on Wednesday evening and they will be without him for the foreseeable future as Killian Tillie suffered a stress fracture in his foot and underwent surgery just prior to the start of the season.

Tillie is expected to miss at least the entire non conference schedule for Gonzaga and the team is still unsure of when he will return.

The Zags have been in two very tight games in Maui, going to the wire with Illinois on Monday night and then needing a major second half comeback to beat Arizona on Tuesday night.

However, the No. 3 Gonzaga Bulldogs will get the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils on Wednesday afternoon at 5:00 pm ET on ESPN in the Maui Invitational Championship Game that everyone wanted to see.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham at our Twitter, @Ball_Durham, and here at our website, balldurham.com, for complete coverage of the Duke Blue Devils vs. the Gonzaga Wildcats. 

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