Room at Top for Gonzaga

In recent seasons, the Gonzaga Bulldogs have shown they could compete with the top programs in the NCAA tournament.

Now they’re doing it in the regular season.

Ronny Turiaf scored 21 of his 23 points after halftime and Blake Stepp added 14 points and 10 assists in No. 17 Gonzaga’s 87-80 overtime victory over No. 3 Missouri on Saturday at KeyArena.

Freshman Adam Morrison scored 12 of his 17 points in the first half as Gonzaga (7-1) won its seventh straight. Since a season-opening loss to Saint Joseph’s, the Bulldogs have beaten Georgia, Maryland and Missouri (3-1).

“This shows we can play with anybody in the country,” Gonzaga Coach Mark Few said. “When we’re playing well, like we did today, we can play with anybody.”

The Bulldogs fought back from deficits of 67-62 with four minutes to play in regulation and 79-75 with three minutes to go in overtime. And it was Turiaf who led both charges.

He scored to give Gonzaga an 81-80 lead with 1:01 to play in overtime. Then at the other end, he drew an offensive foul on Missouri’s Jimmy McKinney with 36 seconds remaining.

“Ronny lives for the moment,” Few said. “The bigger the moment, the bigger he plays. For one reason or another, he slowly gets a feel early in the game and then he usually has a great second half.”

Rickey Paulding scored 23 points for Missouri.