Gonzaga Is Headed Back To The Elite 8
For the first time as head coach, Mark Few will lead the Gonzaga Bulldogs into the Elite Eight. They will face the winner of tonight’s Duke-Utah matchup, but they are one game from their first Final Four in school history.
The first half wasn’t all that nerve-wracking, but they didn’t put UCLA away, and the Bruins opened the second half by scoring six unanswered in the first 90 seconds. Few called a timeout before things got any worse.
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Then, things got a LOT better.
Gary Bell Jr. hit a jumper, and Przemek Karnowski did the rest, accounting for 14 of the next 16 points. Everything he threw up went in, and he gave Domantas Sabonis two uncontested dunks with beautiful behind-the-back passes. It was poor defense by the Bruins, doubling Karnowski before the help rotation was there, but great looks nonetheless.
From there, the Zags cruised through the rest of the second half with a double-digit lead. And this group of senior guards aren’t the type to choke the game away.
Mar 27, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs center Przemek Karnowski (24) shoots between UCLA Bruins center
Thomas Welsh(40) and guard
Norman Powell(4) during the second half in the semifinals of the south regional of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Reliant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Regardless of who wins the second game tonight in Houston, Gonzaga should be the favorites in my opinion, despite Jalil Okafor being the best player in the country not named Frank Kaminsky, and likely being the #1 overall pick in the NBA Draft.
But Duke is small and inexperienced at the guard positions. The teams that beat them like Miami, NC State and Notre Dae are all guard dominated teams. Justise Winslow will likely guard Byron Wesley, or maybe Bell. But Quinn Cook and Tyus Jones are both susceptible to a talented guard going off against them. And Gonzaga has plenty of talented guards. They also have two guys to throw at Okafor in Karnowski and Sabonis.
Utah is also a dangerous team, with one of the top five point guards and one of the top five low-post scorers in the country in Delon Wright and Jakob Poeltl, but neither of the two teams have two very important factors that Gonzaga does: depth and experience.
As I’ve said before, when Gary Bell Jr. is your SIXTH leading scorer, you have a deep freakin’ team. And the importance of having three senior guards is impossible to overstate.
It’s called March Madness for a reason, but when it gets down near the end of the tournament, the cream rises to the top.
Time for a second wind Spokane. Midnight won’t be striking on the Zags, for a few more days at least.