NCAA Tournament: Gonzaga Smothers SDSU, Upstart Northwestern is Next
By Ben Renner
In the NCAA Tournament, Gonzaga smothered South Dakota State yesterday in the second half to take a first-round win. Up next is Northwestern, who escaped with a dramatic win over Vanderbilt.
In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, South Dakota State kept things close with mighty Gonzaga as a sixteen-seed in the first half. They doubled the Zags’ big men inside and managed to sink enough three-pointers to stay within striking distance. At the half, they were only down four.
Then, as so often happens in the NCAA Tournament between a one-seed and a sixteen, the Goliath clamped down. Incredibly, the Jackrabbits kept things close for over half the game despite an uncharacteristically slumped performance from their star forward, Mike Daum. Daum, the second-leading scorer in the nation, managed 17 points on 7 for 16 shooting from the floor. He also battled and contained 7’1″ center Przemek Karnowski for much of the game.
It was Karnowski, however, who put the dagger in the hearts of the Jackrabbits and those masochists out there who’d love to see a 16 seed upset a one for once. Karnowski finished with 10 points, but scored six of them near the five-minute mark to put Gonzaga up by 20, an insurmountable lead for Mark Few’s Bulldogs.
More from Emerald City Swagger
- Seattle Seahawks: To rest or not to rest, that is the question
- Washington State Football: What you need to know for 2018 Alamo Bowl
- Washington Basketball: 3 takeaways from Huskies win over Sacramento St.
- Seattle Seahawks: 12s still waiting to exhale
- Seattle Seahawks: 4 Takeaways from 26-23 Loss to the 49ers
Up next for Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament is the upstart Northwestern Wildcats, who eked out a dramatic victory against Vanderbilt yesterday. In its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, the Wildcats got their first Tournament win, a hard-fought grind-fest aided by a bad foul by Vanderbilt near the end.
For Northwestern, facing Gonzaga is probably one of their biggest basketball games ever. If they can pull off the upset, they’ll be putting their foot in glass slipper. Gonzaga has other ideas and their own demons to shake off.
Next: Huskies Take Brave Step in Firing Romar
I expect Gonzaga to clamp down on Northwestern in a similar fashion to their game against South Dakota State. These one-loss Zags are hungry for a Final Four, and I doubt an eight-seed can upset them this time around.