Thursday night college hoops news and scores

Gonzaga jumped out to a 16-2 lead seven minutes into the game, setting a precedent that was only challenged once throughout the remainder of the contest. After the Pilots cut the Bulldogs’ lead to five points with less than two minutes left in the first half, Gonzaga extended its lead back out to double digits by closing the half on a 5-0 run.

Next up for Gonzaga is a showdown with No. 13 Butler on Saturday in Indianapolis. Portland will stay home to face St. Mary’s, which overcame a 20-4 deficit in its last outing to beat BYU, on the same day.

VCU squandered a 12-point first-half lead, allowing St. Joseph’s to get to within six at the break. The Rams briefly reclaimed a double-digit lead two and a half minutes into the second half, but the Hawks fought back to tie the game when Galloway buried a three-pointer with 6:10 remaining.

Graham, VCU’s leading scorer, converted a four-point play a minute and a half into overtime to give the Rams an six-point cushion that held up for the rest of the extra period.

Both teams will be back in action on Wednesday, with Duke (16-1) facing a road game against Miami and Georgia Tech (10-6) returning to Tobacco Road to face North Carolina.

The Wildcats (11-7) jumped out to a 15-point halftime lead behind a 57.5-percent shooting performance in the opening half. Illinois’ defense improved in the second half, applying several variations of half- and full-court pressure, but Northwestern continued to make the most of its opportunities from the field, connecting on half of its three-point attempts in addition to a solid effort from inside the arc.

Following a steal at the 13:41 mark in the second half, Robinson raced down court and finished off the play with this incredible piece of showmanship:

Robinson and the No. 5 Wolverines held on for an 83-75 victory over the Gophers.

Michigan will return home to face Purdue on Jan. 24, while Minnesota will take on Northwestern on the road on Jan. 23.

On Thursday, they clash in Minneapolis, Minn., knowing another lesson -- the Big Ten schedule is flat-out tough.

The No. 4 Wolverines will face a tall task of beating a top-10 opponent away from Ann Arbor. John Beilein’s Michigan teams are 1-16 against ranked opponents on the road, and the majority of those games came in the conference. Last week’s loss to Ohio State gave the 16-1 Wolverines their first loss of the year, and while it affirmed that they’re talented, they can’t get off to slow starts.