Zags remain unbeaten, roll past Creighton
INDIANAPOLIS — Drew Timme scored 22 points and top-seeded Gonzaga did against Creighton what it’s done throughout this unblemished season, rolling past the fifth-seeded Bluejays with versatile offense and efficient defense to win 83-65 on Sunday in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
Andrew Nembhard added 17 points for the Bulldogs (29-0), who have won a school-record 33 consecutive games and extended their Division I record to 26 straight double-digit wins.
Gonzaga did it this time on a quiet day for star Jalen Suggs, who finished with nine points. The Bulldogs methodically built a 10point halftime lead and pushed ahead by 20 on Suggs’ layup with 11:22 left. The Zags will face sixthseeded Southern California or seventh-seeded Oregon on Tuesday in the West regional final.
Marcus Zegarowski scored 19 points to lead the Bluejays (22-9), who were trying to reach their first Elite Eight since 1941, when only eight teams played in the NCAA Tournament.
As they have many times this season, the Zags led wire to wire.
Gonzaga’s fast start forced Creighton to call its first timeout a little more than two minutes into the game and within seven minutes the Zags already led 22-12.
The Bluejays settled down and fought back within 27-25. But Gonzaga answered with five straight points, took a 43-33 halftime lead and spent most of the second half pulling away.
Nembhard also had eight assists while Timme added six rebounds. Joel Ayayi finished with 13 points and eight rebounds and Corey Kispert had 12 points for Gonzaga, which shot 59.6% from the field.
Denzel Mahoney added 13 points for Creighton.
MICHIGAN 76, FLORIDA SATE 58
INDIANAPOLIS — Hunter Dickinson scored 14 points and top-seeded Michigan took the inside route to the Elite Eight, pounding away in the paint for a takedown of surprisingly helpless Florida State.
Franz Wagner had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolverines, who scored their first 30 points of the second half from close range to lead coach Juwan Howard and Co. to a victory in the only “chalk” meeting between a 1 and 4 seed of the second weekend.
Michigan (23-4) moved to the regional semifinals for the first time since 2018. The Wolverines will play the winner of Sunday’s later UCLA-Alabama game.
Badly off target most of the night, Florida State didn’t eclipse the 20-point mark until M.J. Walker (10 points) hit a jumper with 27 seconds left in the first half.
Other lowlights for the Seminoles:
1 14 turnovers, including 10 in the first half that led to
16 Michigan points.
1 No 3-pointers over the first 24 minutes, and only 5 of 20 for the game; four of the makes came from Malik Osborne, who led the Seminoles with 12 points.
1 Foul trouble for Walker, Anthony Polite and RaiQuan Gray. Adding to the trouble, Walker, the team’s leading scorer this season, rolled his ankle at the 14minute mark of the second half. By the time he came back eight minutes later, the Seminoles (18-7) trailed by 19.
Much of the credit for the Seminoles’ off night goes to Michigan. The Wolverines have big men in 7-foot-1 Dickinson and 6-9 Wagner, the likes of whom FSU hasn’t faced much, even as its long, athletic bunch took the program to their third straight Sweet 16.
UCLA 88, ALABAMA 78 (OT)
INDIANAPOLIS — Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 17 points, hitting two big jumpers early in overtime, and No. 11 seed UCLA held on after Alabama’s Alex Reese drained a buzzerbeating 3-pointer at the end of regulation to beat the second-seeded Crimson Tide in a Sweet 16
showdown.
With star guard Johnny Juzang fouled out, Jaquez and David Singleton took control in overtime. Jaquez curled in a jumper to make it 74-68, then drilled a 3-pointer to make it 77-70 moments later. Singleton’s free throws made it 79-70 with under a minute to go, and all UCLA (21-9) had to do was put the game away from the foul line.
After beating Michigan State in overtime just to escape the First Four, the unheralded Bruins are headed to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2008. They’ll face top-seeded Michigan on Tuesday night for a spot in the Final Four.
UCLA thought it had the game won in regulation when Cody Riley’s lay-in made it 63-62 with 14 seconds left, and Herbert Jones — a 75% foul shooter for Alabama — missed both of his attempts with 6 seconds left.
Singleton was fouled and made two free throws for UCLA, pushing the lead to 65-62 with 4 seconds to go. But that still gave the Crimson Tide enough time to find Reese, whose tying 3-pointer splashed just before the buzzer.