EASY DOES IT
Zags’ quest for perfect season continues with romp over USC; UCLA upsets Michigan to go from First Four to Final Four
GONZAGA 85 USC 66
INDIANAPOLIS — Can anybody stop these guys?
For the 30th straight time this season, Gonzaga answered that question with a resounding “No.”
The Bulldogs got on a roll and put on a show, cruising into the Final Four with an 85-66 beatdown of a USC team that was nowhere near ready for what it ran into Tuesday night.
Drew Timme scored 23 points with five rebounds and, after one dunk, pretended to slick down his handlebar mustache for the few thousand fans in the stands.
“This is a really, really big deal,” coach Mark Few said of the program’s return to the Final Four after a four-year hiatus. “And Zags know how to celebrate, OK?”
The top-seeded and top-ranked Bulldogs will be the third team to bring an undefeated record into the Final Four since the bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1985. The last team to go undefeated was Indiana in 1976.
Timme did whatever he wanted against the nation’s fourth-ranked defense — a team that won its first three tournament games by an average of 21 points — as did pretty much everyone else in a white uniform.
Jared Suggs finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. All-American Corey Kispert scored 18 points with eight boards on an “off” night — only 6 for 19 from the floor. Gonzaga shot 44% in the second half and “only” 50% for the game. That was five under its nation-leading average, but it didn’t matter much.
“We just tried to stay moving,” Suggs said about attacking the USC zone, which had been shutting down teams all month in Indy. “We didn’t let the ball get too sticky. We kept moving, flashing into the high post. It was a lot for them to deal with — good cuts off the baseline, vertical cuts off the wings.”
Blowouts are supposed to be boring, but this had the feel of a Globetrotters game at times, filled with fancy bounce passes through traffic, reverse layups, a swooping power dunk from Joel Ayayi (nine points) and the occasional post-basket flex from the 6-foot-10 Timme.
Gonzaga led sixth-seeded USC 7-0 after two minutes, 25-8 after 8:30 and 36-15 after Kispert took a nifty dish from Timme for an easy layup with 6:03 left in the half.
“It was a little surprising,” USC coach Andy Enfield said, “because we’d been playing great basketball.”
The Zags have a way about doing that to people.
They walked into the locker room at halftime ahead by 19 and with a big fat zero in the turnover column — a gold-standard stat for a team that thrives on offensive efficiency.
The last 20 minutes were extended garbage time — plenty of time for Timme to wax his handlebar mustache and for the Bulldogs to pad the stats.
UCLA 51, MICHIGAN 49
Johnny Juzang poured in 28 points while playing most of the second half on a hurt ankle, and UCLA survived a series of nail-biting misses by top-seeded Michigan in the closing seconds for a 51-49 victory Tuesday night that made the Bruins the fifth No. 11 seed ever to reach the Final Four. After dictating the pace all game, eschewing the slick style of Michigan in favor of a rock fight, it only seemed fitting that the underdog Bruins — with two overtime wins in the tournament already — would take it to the buzzer.
They were clinging to a 50-49 lead when Michigan called a timeout with 19 seconds to go. Juwan Howard set up an open 3-point look for cold-shooting Franz Wagner, who missed most of everything, and Eli Brooks missed a put-back before UCLA was able to corral the rebound.
The Wolverines quickly fouled and sent Juzang to the line, where he missed the second of his two free throws with 6.3 seconds left, and Michigan grabbed the rebound. After another timeout, Mike Smith raced up court and unloaded a good look from the wing that was halfway down before bouncing back out.
The buzzer sounded but the officials halted the Bruins’ celebration, putting a half-second back on the clock. That was enough time for Michigan to inbound to Wagner, who again let fly a 3-pointer that clanked off the iron — and finally gave the Bruins freedom to spring from their benches in a wild celebration.
Tyger Campbell added 11 points for UCLA (22-9), which will play overall No. 1 seed Gonzaga in the national semifinals.
REF OK AFTER COLLAPSE
Official Bert Smith collapsed on the floor early in the game and had to be taken off the court on a stretcher.
Smith had just set up on the baseline as the Trojans were moving onto offense when he collapsed and hit his head on the floor.
He stayed down for five minutes, and then was able to stand up and move to a nearby stretcher. He was alert and sitting up with his arms crossed as he was taken off the court.
In a statement, NCAA spokesman David Worlock said Smith was “alert and stable,” and wouldn’t be transported to a hospital. Worlock also said Smith has been in contact with his family.
CBS Sports rules analyst Gene Steratore said on the TBS broadcast that Smith was feeling “lightheaded,” leading to the fall. He said Smith was being treated by trainers in the locker room.
Smith was officiating his second Elite Eight. He was replaced by an alternate, Tony Henderson, who had been at the scorer’s table. Additionally, Tony Chiazza — the standby official for the UCLA-Michigan game later Tuesday — served as the standby official for the remainder of the USC-Gonzaga game.