Gonzaga survives, Vandy suffers upset

By Fred Guzman
MauiNow.com

One upset and one close call. That was the outcome for a pair of highly touted teams in the first two games on the opening day of the EA Sports Maui Invitational at the Lahaina Civic Center.

In Game 1, Gonzaga – which gave second-ranked Michigan State all it could handle on the road just last week – rallied from a 15-point deficit to pull out a 76-72 win over Colorado.

Steven Gray had 27 points and Matt Bouldin added 21 to offset a 19-point effort by Cory Higgins, who also had six rebounds and four assists.

Colorado and Gonzaga are now both 3-1. Gonzaga will meet the winner of the late game between Arizona and Wisconsin in Tuesday’s 4:30 p.m. semifinal. Colorado will lay against the loser of Arizona-Wisconsin in a consolation bracket game at 11 a.m.

In Game 2, Vanderbilt had its entry into the Top 25 brought to an early end as an inspired Cincinnati defeated the cold-shooting Commodores 67-58.

Yancy Gates had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Bearcats, who improved to 3-0. Jermaine Beal’s 16 points led the Commodores, who made only 27.5 percent of their shots and were out-rebounded 53-32 by Cincinnati.

Vanderbilt dropped to 2-1 and was relegated to Tuesday’s 8:30 a.m. game against the loser of the late game between tournament host Chaminade and Maryland. Cincinnati will play the winner of the Chaminade-Maryland game at 2 p.m.