the Commodores need to win their last two to get to six victories ..

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Gonzagas fourth straight lopsided victory didnt come as easy as the final score would suggest.Jonathan Williams and Zach Collins led a balanced offense with 13 points apiece, helping the 11th-ranked Bulldogs shrug off a slow start and pull away to an 82-62 win over Quinnipiac in the first round of the AdvoCare Invitational at Disney World on Thursday night.The Bulldogs (4-0) also got 10 points each from Jordan Mathews and Josh Perkins to advance to the semifinals of the eight-team tournament.Like I told the guys, were not going to be up by 30 every game at half. Its Division I basketball, Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. Youve got to scratch and claw, and find your way through it, and I thought we did a nice job of doing that.Gonzaga used a 12-2 spurt to open a 37-25 lead late in the first half. Silas Nelsons basket put the Bulldogs up 48-35 with just under 15 minutes to go, and the closest Quinnipiac (0-3) got after that was 10. Mathews made 3-pointers on successive trips down the floor, sparking a run that enabled the Bulldogs to build the margin to 23.Not every game is going to be an easy game. Quinnipiac, they came out fighting but we fought back. We didnt let the first half dictate what was going to happen in the second half, said Collins, a 7-foot freshman forward. We executed much better in the second half. We played much better defense. ... We just fought, stayed together, didnt let it get us down and just kept rolling.Peter Kiss led Quinnipiac with 18 points and Daniel Harris added 10. The Bobcats limited Gonzagas leading scorer, 7-foot-1 Przemek Karnowski, to eight points on 4-for-10 shooting despite not having a player on the roster taller than 6-foot-9 forward Chaise Daniels.Im proud of our effort, proud of our togetherness. We have a very inexperienced group, a young group, Quinnipiac coach Tom Moore said.We come into this game, obviously, against a program like Gonzaga with a different agenda than they had to have. Were trying to find ourselves, he added. Overall, tonight was a step forward for us. We have a long way to go, a lot of things to get better at. This is a blue-blood program that we played tonight. Im really proud of our effort from start to finish.BIG PICTUREThe Bulldogs figure to get a better idea of where they are over the next two days, when they could face a ranked opponent as well as another on the verge of cracking the Top 25. Quinnipiac stayed close for 15 minutes, but mainly because Gonzaga shot 41 percent in the opening half and missed nine of 11 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc. The teams remaining in the winners bracket pose a much bigger challenge.POLL IMPLICATIONSIf the Bulldogs can win this tournament for the third time, it would bolster their argument to crack the Top 10. At the very least, picking up two quality wins would help their position as they move toward a Dec. 3 trip to No. 9 Arizona.STILL PERFECTGonzaga improved to 7-0 in the Thanksgiving tournament at Disney formerly known as the Old Spice Classic. The Bulldogs won the event in 2008 and 2012.Its been great for us. Its always given us a great barometer where were at, Few said. To get out here on the road as a group at Thanksgiving, I think it does nothing but kind of draw us even closer, and weve been working on that all year.UP NEXTGonzaga plays Florida (5-0) in the tournament semifinals Friday night.Quinnipiac faces Seton Hall (3-1) in the losers bracket.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25. Nike Air Max Fury Canada . Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with the team in the next few weeks. Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls. Air Max 270 Sale Canada .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at Boston Strong - a citys recovery from tragedy. http://www.clearanceairmaxcanada.com/air-max-95-canada-sale.html . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. Cheap Nike Air Max Canada . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. Air Max 90 Canada Sale . The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Lions have not announced the hiring, which was first reported by ESPN. Lombardi, the grandson of former Green Bay Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi, has been an offensive assistant on Sean Paytons New Orleans staff since 2007. Thanksgiving weekend is filled with the rivalries and season-ending drama. The first weekend in December will determine just about every conference championship.This weekend in college football looks like it has limited potential to shake up the rankings and College Football Playoff chase. But thats also what last weekend looked like and we all know how that turned out.For once, the Big 12 is in the spotlight. The conferences best hopes for making a late push to the College Football Playoff will meet in Morgantown, West Virginia, when the No. 10 Mountaineers face No. 8 Oklahoma.The Sooners (8-2) have the higher ranking but West Virginia, with its 8-1 record, probably has a better path to the playoff. Both teams will need some help as the College Football Playoff committee has not shown itself to be particularly impressed with the conferences best teams.Another game to watch in the Big 12 this week is in Fort Worth, Texas, when No. 13 Oklahoma State faces TCU. The Cowboys are the longest of playoff long shots, weighed down by a loss to Central Michigan that was aided by a blown call by officials. Oklahoma State has already beaten West Virginia and finishes the season against rival Oklahoma.The picks:THURSDAY NIGHT THROWDOWNSNo. 3 Louisville (minus 14) at HoustonLikely the last big-stage game for Lamar Jackson and the Cardinals to show off their stuff to Heisman voters and the selection committee ... HOUSTON 35-28, UPSET SPECIAL.Arkansas State (plus 8+) at No. 25 TroyThe newly ranked Trojans are looking to make it two straight victories in games for first-place in the Sun Belt ... TROY 35-21.FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTSUNLV (plus 28+) at No. 22 Boise StateThe Rebels helped the Broncos a bunch last week by beating Wyoming ... BOISE STATE 45-28.MARQUEE MATCHUPS.No. 8 Oklahoma (minus 2+) at No. 10 West VirginiaThe Mountaineers defense has been solid, but with one major concern: Not much pass rush (17 sacks) ... OKLAHOMA 40-34.No. 20 Washington State (plus 4+) at No. 12 ColoradoMaybe the most unlikely game of the season with playoff implications ... COLORADO 28-27.No. 21 Florida (plus 13+) at No. 16 LSUThe Gators can clinch the SEC East by winning this hurricane-postponed game. The Tigers can give Tennessee the inside track to the division with a win ... LSU 28-12.PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONSNo. 2 Ohio State (minus 22+) at Michigan StateIt has been such a horrible season for the Spartans, but they have Ohio State and Penn State in the next two weeks with a chance to pull a season-salvaging upset. OHIO STATE 35-17.Indiana (plus 23) at No. 4 MichiganThe Wolverines are not built to be quarterback-dependent, which should serve them well against the Hoosiers ... MICHIGAN 42-17.No. 5 Clemson (minus 22+) at Wake ForestThe Demon Deacons defense mucked up both Louisville and Florida State, so the Tigers take Wake seriously ... CLEMSON 28-10.No. 6 Wisconsin (minus 28) at PurdueThe Badgers can win tthe Big Ten West by winning out .dddddddddddd... WISCONSIN 35-13.Arizona State (plus 27) at No. 7 WashingtonThe ideal way for QB Jake Browning and the Huskies to bounce back from their worst game of the season? A home game against the worst pass defense in the Pac-12 ... WASHINGTON 50-21.CONFERENCE CALLSNo. 9 Penn State (minus 28) at RutgersNittany Lions RB Saquon Barkley against the worst rushing defense in the Big Ten ... PENN STATE 45-14.Oregon (plus 14) at No. 11 UtahTwo more games for Mark Helfrich to show he should remain the Ducks coach ... UTAH 46-30.No. 13 Oklahoma State (plus 4) at TCUThe Cowboys have had consecutive great-escape victories to keep their Big 12 title hopes alive ... TCU 35-28.No. 15 Southern California (minus 11) at UCLAThe Trojans are rolling into the rivalry game while the Bruins are just trying to salvage a season ... USC 42-21, BEST BET.No. 17 Florida State (minus 21) at SyracuseIf Clemson and Louisville can make the playoff, Florida State could end up in the Orange Bowl ... FLORIDA STATE 38-24.Maryland (plus 14) at No. 19 NebraskaThe Terps are still looking for win No. 6 for bowl eligibility. Probably not this week, though the Cornhuskers could be without QB Tommy Armstrong ... NEBRASKA 33-17.No. 24 San Diego State (minus 10) at WyomingA victory by Donnel Pumphrey and the Aztecs would help set up a San Diego State-Boise State Mountain West title game, which would help the conferences chances to get a New Years Six bowl bid ... SAN DIEGO STATE 28-17.LATE-SEASON NONCONFERENCEUTSA (plus 27+) at No. 23 Texas A&MThe Aggies look to build a little confidence before a Thanksgiving night game against LSU ... TEXAS A&M 49-21.TWITTER REQUESTSStanford (minus 11) at California -- (at)scurrynChristian McCaffrey against the Bears defense (equals) so many missed tackles ... STANFORD 42-24.Mississippi (minus 10) at Vanderbilt -- (at)jeremiah8712The Rebels can get bowl eligible with a win; the Commodores need to win their last two to get to six victories ... MISSISSIPPI 34-17.Notre Dame (pickem) at Virginia Tech -- (at)hokiesmashThe Hokies have had some perplexing losses, but inconsistency probably should have been expected in their first season with a new coach ... NOTRE DAME 28-27.UConn (plus 7+) at Boston College -- (at)LicatacsThe Eagles can still get bowl-eligible by winning out -- which is remarkable considering how poorly they have played against good competition ... BOSTON COLLEGE 14-10.Harvard (minus 12+) at Yale -- (at)MattSmithCFBThe Crimson need help to win the Ivy League ... HARVARD 34-17.---Record: Last week 14-12 straight; 12-14 vs. points.Season: 163-69; 105-122-3.Upset specials: 3-8.Best bets: 2-9.---Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '