Gonzaga Can’t Stop Nelson, Saint Joseph’s

Jameer Nelson, the second-leading vote-getter on the Associated Press preseason All-America team, had 20 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists to lead No. 17 Saint Joseph’s to a 73-66 victory over No. 10 Gonzaga in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic Friday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Saint Joseph’s went five minutes without scoring, and Gonzaga reduced an 11-point deficit to five points at 66-61. But Pat Carroll banked in a three-point shot from just in front of the Saint Joseph’s bench with 3:02 to play and the Hawks kept the Bulldogs at bay.

Cory Violette had 13 points and 15 rebounds for Gonzaga, which got only eight points on two-for-12 shooting from Blake Stepp, last season’s West Coast Conference player of the year.

“We had a lack of production and mobility to bring the ball into the post,” Gonzaga Coach Mark Few said.

No. 22 Pittsburgh 71, Alabama 62 -- Carl Krauser and Jamie Dixon had to replace people who made Pittsburgh a prominent program in college basketball. They did pretty well in their opener.

Krauser, replacing four-year starter Brandin Knight at point guard, scored 21 points for the Panthers in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

Dixon got the win in his first game as head coach. He replaced former boss Ben Howland, who went to UCLA after four seasons at Pittsburgh. Chuck Davis, aiming for one of Alabama’s four open starting spots, scored 20 points for the Crimson Tide. He averaged 1.5 points last season as a freshman.

WOMEN

Jacqueline Batteast scored 27 points and Katy Flecky had 17 to lead No. 15 Notre Dame to a 77-64 victory over No. 22 Auburn in the first round of the WBCA Classic at Boulder, Colo. Batteast made six of eight shots in the second half and scored 11 points in the first nine minutes as the Irish built a 59-44 lead.

In other top 25 games:

No. 10 Texas Tech scored 16 of the game’s final 18 points in defeating Texas San Antonio, 76-48, at Lubbock, Texas, in the first round of the preseason National Invitation Tournament.... No. 16 Rutgers defeated St. Peter’s, 58-40, at Piscataway, N.J., in a first-round game of the preseason NIT. The victory was the 675th in the career of Vivian Stringer, making her the fourth coach to reach the milestone.... Shona Thorburn scored 24 points to help No. 19 Utah defeat Southeast Missouri State, 76-65, at Salt Lake City in the first round of the preseason NIT.... Emily Waner had 17 points -- including five three-point baskets -- as No. 20 Colorado defeated Old Dominion, 84-67, at Boulder, Colo., in the WBCA Classic.