SEATTLE — Jaden Shackelford scored 20 of his 28 points in the first half, Jahvon Quinerly and JD Davison both hit key 3-pointers, and No. 16 Alabama held off Gonzaga’s big second-half rally for a 91-82 win over the third-ranked Bulldogs on Saturday night.
The Crimson Tide (7-1) made 10 of their 13 3-pointers in the first half, led by Shackelford’s sharp shooting from deep. Alabama led by 16 at halftime and withstood every charge the Bulldogs made in the second half to hand Gonzaga its second loss in three games.
Gonzaga trailed by as many as 18 at the beginning of the second half, but pulled within 76-72. The Bulldogs missed several chance to cut the deficit, and Davison and Quinerly hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Crimson Tide a big cushion.
Shackelford made 10 of 16 shots and all six of his 3-pointers came in the first half. Davison finished with 20 points off the bench and Quinerly added 17 for a Crimson Tide team that capped a memorable day in their athletics department. The men’s basketball win came hours after the football team won the SEC title in Atlanta.
Drew Timme led Gonzaga (7-2) with 23 points, but it was another sputtering offensive performance for the Zags, who lost to Duke last week in Las Vegas and looked lethargic in a win over Tarleton State earlier this week.
Julian Strawther had 13 points, and Anton Watson and Chet Holmgren 10 each for Gonzaga, but the Bulldogs didn’t hit perimeter shots at key times and struggled badly at the free-throw line.
Alabama led 53-35 in the opening seconds of the second half, Gonzaga pulled within 74-70 and 76-72 on Watson’s rebound basket with 5:27 left, the closest the Bulldogs had been since late in the first half.
Gonzaga was empty on its next three possessions and Davison’s 3-pointer pushed the Alabama lead back to seven with 3:33 left. Quinerly added a 3 the next time down for Alabama and the lead was 10.
The Crimson Tide had missed five straight 3-point attempts before Davison’s make.
Shackelford was nearly perfect in the first half, making 7 of 8 shots and six 3-pointers. His step-back 3 at the halftime buzzer gave Alabama a 51-35 lead at the break. Shackelford had not made more than five 3s in a game yet this season. More than half of Alabama’s first-half field goals came from behind the 3-point line with 10 3s and just eight field goals inside the arc.
The Zags, meanwhile, were terrible at the free-throw line, finishing 13 of 25 and missing the front end of one-and-one situations several times. Entering the game, the Bulldogs were 71.2% from the line.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.