ZAGS ZIG BY WVU
Zags show their toughness in escape against West Va.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — For the last month, the whispers Gonzaga was hearing had become screams.
The Zags, despite taking a 32-1 record into the NCAA Tournament, were told they didn’t deserve a No. 1 seed. Who had they played, after all, in their second-tier conference?
Gonzaga then won its first two NCAA Tournament games last week, but it had not looked like a No. 1 seed while taking down No. 16 South Dakota and No. 8 Northwestern. So the questions persisted. That’s what was going to make Thursday night’s West Region semifinal against West Virginia at the SAP Center such a perfect test for the Zags to pass. They were playing a battle-tested veteran Mountaineers team that had been suffocating opponents into submission with their full-court press.
So now, after Gonzaga beat No. 4 seed West Virginia 61-58 in a thriller during which they outtoughed the toughest team in the land, you may forgive the Bulldogs if they’d like to ask this of their doubters: “Any more questions?’’
Gonzaga coach Mark Few called the game “just an absolute war, (a) rock fight.’’
“A lot of people all year have had questions about how good Gonzaga is and how tough Gonzaga is,’’ Gonzaga guard Nigel Williams-Goss said. “Well, we just went against the supposed bad boys and won. That’s a testament to how tough we are.’’
Gonzaga coach Mark Few had brought all 18 of his Bulldogs’ teams to the NCAA Tournament. They’ve now advanced to seven Sweet 16s and two Elite Eights, also making it in 2015.
But never has Gonzaga (351) gotten to a Final Four. Now it’s one win over the winner of Thursday’s late game between Arizona and Xavier away from realizing that dream.
Asked if he feels like he’s creeping closer to ridding himself of the “monkey’’ on his back, Few said, “First of all, I don’t know that I have a monkey on my back. I certainly don’t wake up with one or walk around with one. So I don’t think these guys think I have one. I don’t think my wife thinks I have one or anybody in my family. Fishing buddies never talk about it.
“It would be phenomenal to get these guys, this team that I love deeply, the experience to go to a Final Four.’’
The Zags got there thanks, in the end, to a frenetic, stunning sequence in the waning seconds of the game, which took place with West Virginia out of timeouts and down three points.
West Virginia guard Jevon Carter, who led all scorers with 21 points, missed consecutive 3-pointers in the final seconds to seal the Mountaineers’ heartbreaking fate.
In a game in which the referees were calling touch fouls on players if they sneezed (a total of 51 fouls were called, resulting in 61 free throws), West Virginia inexplicably played for a game-tying 3-point shot despite having 37 seconds with which to work.
Carter, who had just given his team a 58-55 lead with a 3-pointer, lost his poise, badly missing two consecutive 3-point shots. And then, after an offensive rebound, he had the ball in his hands in the final seconds and, after dribbling around the perimeter trying to find an opening for himself, he never got another game-tying attempt off.
“Carter was really … he wanted to take it,’’ Few said.
“That was a mistake on my behalf,’’ Carter said. “I knew [the Zags] had a lot of guys at the top. I should have drove it to the basket. If I’m in that position again I’ll take it to the basket.’’
West Virginia had tied the game at 55-55 on a 3-pointer by Daxter Miles Jr. with 2:20 remaining and then it took the 58-55 lead on the Carter 3 with 1:44 remaining.
Gonzaga made it 58-57 on two Williams- Goss free throws and then Zags guard Jordan Matthews drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing with 57 seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs a 60-58 lead.
“I call him ‘ Big Shot Bob,’ ’’ Few said. “He’s not afraid.’’
When Gonzaga’s Silas Melson hit one of two free throws with 37.9 remaining to give the Zags a 61-58 lead, it set the stage for that frantic final sequence that Mountaineers fans will marinate on for the entire offseason.