Gonzaga puts end to S.C. run in semi
SOUTH CAROLINA’S magical run is over.
Behind a game-high 23 points from Nigel Williams-Goss, No. 1-seed Gonzaga outlasted the No. 7 seed Gamecocks, 77-73, in the Final Four Saturday in Glendale, Ariz., to earn a spot in Monday night’s title game.
The Zags advance to the NCAA championship for the first time in school history, finally breaking through after years of disappointing losses in the Big Dance under longtime coach Mark Few.
“I feel blessed, blessed to be part of something so special,” said Williams-Goss, who’s in his first season with Gonzaga after transferring from Washington. “The journey we’ve been on has just been unreal, and we just never stopped believing and we’ve had the utmost confidence in ourselves the entire season long.” Gonzaga shot 58% from the field in the first half and opened up a nine-point halftime lead. That advantage ballooned to 14 points early in the second half, but South Carolina responded with a furious 16-0 run to take the lead with seven minutes left. Defense spurred the spurt, as it typically does with the Gamecocks.
The Bulldogs, though, pulled away down the stretch behind their two seven-footers, senior Przemek Karnowski (13 points, five rebounds, three assists) and freshman Zach Collins (14 points, career-high 13 rebounds, career-high six blocks off the bench).
“That’s my job, is to go in and rim protect. So every game I try to do the same thing, just try to rim protect without fouling,” Collins said. “I had four fouls today. But I thought getting those blocked shots would help us. And they attacked the rim really well in the first half. … I just had to use my length, my hands and stuff to get blocks and help our team to win.”
“I’m really happy for him,” Karnowski said of Collins. “His work ethic is awesome. He’s been playing well for us the entire season. Whenever I go to the bench he gets in, and basically our team doesn’t drop a bit. So he’s been huge for us. And not only this game but the entire season.” The Gamecocks faced a threepoint deficit with less than 15 seconds remaining when Gonzaga opted to foul Sindarius Thornwell to put the senior on the foul line and prevent a three-point attempt.
Few’s squad pulled of the strategic move seamlessly. Thornwell made the first free throw and purposely missed the second before the Bulldogs hauled in the rebound to effectively seal the victory with 2.2 seconds remaining.
“I was just really, really proud of our guys, our late-game execution,” Few said. “I think that’s been a topic of speculation, because we haven’t really had many close games. But we practiced it a lot. And I mean, the guys executed it perfectly, especially down the last four minutes. So really proud of them for that. And just ecstatic to be still playing, and to be playing the last game of the year is just crazy cool.”
Thornwell played through an illness and was limited offensively. He entered the game as the tournament’s leading scorer but finished with just 15 points on 4 of 12 shooting. PJ Dozier paced South Carolina with 17 points.
“What these kids have done is pretty special,” Gamecocks coach Frank Martin said. “They’ve impacted our community in an unbelievable way, which is worth so much more than the score of a game. It’s what it’s all about.”