Nov. 21, 2005

Box Score

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) - Gonzaga's "Big Three" took care of the offense and the eighth-ranked Bulldogs' zone took care of the defense in their 88-76 victory over No. 23 Maryland on Monday in the opening round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

Preseason All-America Adam Morrison scored 25 points, Derek Raivio had 24 and J.P. Batista added 21 for Gonzaga (2-0). The Bulldogs advanced to Tuesday's semifinals where they will play No. 12 Michigan State, which beat Chaminade 89-67.

The Bulldogs' matchup zone was really effective over the final 10 minutes of the game, holding Maryland (1-1) to four field goals in that span, three of them coming in the final 1:14.

D.J. Strawberry's breakaway dunk with 9:26 left brought the Terrapins into a 60-all tie. Maryland's next field goal was a 3-pointer by Strawberry with 4:03 left that cut Gonzaga's lead to 72-65.

The Terrapins missed seven straight shots before Strawberry's long jumper. Chris McCray made two free throws with 3:10 left to make it a five-point game, but freshman Jeremy Pargo hit a 3-pointer 27 seconds later to start a 6-0 run that Raivio capped with a layup that made it 78-67 with 1:57 left.

Pargo finished with 11 points and seven assists.

McCray had 18 points for Maryland, while Strawberry added 16 and Mike Jones 12.

The Bulldogs shot 55.8 percent (29-for-52), including 7-for-13 from 3-point range.

Maryland, despite the late shooting slump, still hit 48.3 percent (28-for-58), but it committed 23 turnovers as Gonzaga racked up 15 steals.

Morrison, Batista and Raivio, all keys for Gonzaga last season in its run into the Top Ten, scored all the points for the Bulldogs in the run that pulled them away from the 60-60 tie. Raivio hit two 3s in the spurt and he also had a nice pass to Morrison for a layup.

This is Gonzaga's second appearance at Maui with a fourth-place finish in 2002. The Terrapins lost in the 1994 championship game and went 1-2 in 2000.