Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Joel Ayayi's 21 points rallied No. 1-ranked Gonzaga to an 87-82 come-from-behind victory over 11^th-ranked West Virginia in the opening game of tonight's Jimmy V Classic in Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
 
Gonzaga's superior depth and outstanding second-half shooting helped it overcome a 39-34 halftime deficit.
 
"We had every opportunity in the world to come out of here with a win, and we kind of gave it away," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said afterward. "Missed free throws, missed layups, turning the ball over without being pressured, not throwing the ball to open people … we've got a lot of things to fix.
 
"But the positive thing is they are all things that are fixable," he added.
 
As it did in its first two wins of the season against Kansas and Auburn, Gonzaga really turned it on in the second half, making 21 of its 34 second-half field goal attempts for 61.8% - matching its second-half shooting for the season. It also shot extremely well in its first two wins against the Jayhawks and Tigers.
 
"We didn't guard the ball screen," Huggins said. "We spent an enormous amount of time guarding the ball screen, and we're going to have to guard it a different way."
 
Huggins said his bigs consistently were beaten to the spot on ball screens and the guards were unable to get through screens to help.
 
The game was at West Virginia's pace until about the 10-minute mark of the second half when the Zags finally began scoring transition points as the Mountaineers began to tire.
 
West Virginia's last lead came with 6:43 remaining, 67-65, on two Taz Sherman free throws, and it was still a two-point game with five minutes to go before the Zags used an Ayai put-back basket and a Corey Kispert 3 to give them a 78-71 advantage.
 
The margin swelled to 86-77 on another Ayayi layup off of a Jalen Suggs steal. A late WVU flurry got it to four, and it could have become a one-possession game when Derek Culver was fouled with 18 seconds to go, but the junior couldn't get his free throw to go down.
 
Culver missed five of his 11 attempts from the line while the rest of the team was an impressive 23-of-24 from the charity stripe.
 
Another big factor was Mountaineers bigs Oscar Tshiebwe and Gabe Osabuohien getting into foul trouble in the second half. Tshiebwe's night ended with 7:26 to go, and Osabuohien joined him on the bench four minutes later.
 
Culver, who finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds, also played a good portion of the second half with four fouls.
 
Freshman Isaiah Cottrell was pressed into emergency action when Tshiebwe's night was finished, and he performed well, scoring six points in 11 minutes of action.
 
Tshiebwe finished 14 points and nine rebounds and Osabuohien added 10 points and three boards.
 
The perimeter shooting once again wasn't there for the Mountaineers. Deuce McBride, forced to do the majority of the ball handling, was 6-of-14 from the floor, starting guard Sean McNeil was 1-for-9, starting wing Emmitt Matthews Jr. was 1-for-5 and top sub Sherman finished 3-for-9.
 
"I thought we had good looks early," Huggins said. "They're the No. 1-ranked team in the country; later on our looks weren't as good."
 
Gonzaga's big guns, Corey Kispert (19 points) and Drew Timme (17 points), were held below their season averages, but Florida transfer Andrew Nembhard picked up the slack with 19.
 
Touted freshman Suggs turned his ankle early in the first half and sat out a good portion of the game before checking himself back in with 15:53 left. He wasn't much of a factor offensively with four points, but he did grab six rebounds, hand out five assists and make three steals.
 
Gonzaga (3-0) dominated West Virginia in the paint, outscoring the Mountaineers 60 to 30 with its superior passing and transition game. Twenty-five of those came off of fast breaks.
 
"They got 60 points in the paint and their perimeter guys scored a ton of them, and that's unacceptable," Huggins said.
 
Overall, West Virginia shot 37.9% to Gonzaga's 49.3%, but the Mountaineers  did outrebound the Zags 41-36.
 
Tonight's loss drops West Virginia's record to 3-1.
 
Gonzaga has won all five meetings against WVU since the two teams began playing in 2012. Two of those were in the NCAA Tournament, which is where both teams expect to end up later this season.
 
West Virginia was seeking its sixth victory against college basketball's No. 1-ranked team, with two of those coming under Huggins.

West Virginia was a late replacement when Tennessee was forced to suspend basketball operations due to COVID-19 concerns within the program. Fans were not permitted in the arena.
 
"I have a hard time finding any silver linings in losing," he said. "I'm not wired that way. We had every opportunity to win the game and didn't and you can't get it back. It's done now and now we go to Georgetown."
 
The Mountaineers will remain on the road to play the Hoyas in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Dec. 6, as part of the Big East-Big 12 Battle. The game is scheduled to tip off at 4:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on FS1.
 
The Hoyas are 1-1 after falling 78-71 to Navy on Tuesday night.