ZAGS TO RICHES
BULLDOGS FINALLY MAKE IT TO NCAA PROMISED LAND
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Gonzaga had been teased long enough.
After 18 consecutive years in the NCAA Tournament under coach Mark Few, with seven Sweet 16 appearances and two Elite Eights — the Bulldogs finally get to taste the fruit of a first Final Four in school history.
After perennial success that elevated Gonzaga to one of the premier programs in college basketball, the Zags finally get to bask on the national stage they have craved for so long — thanks to a dominant 83-59 win over Xavier in the West Region final Saturday night at the SAP Center.
Top-seeded Gonzaga (36-1) will play the winner of Sunday’s East Region final between South Carolina and Florida in a national semifinal next Saturday in Glendale, Ariz.
Gonzaga fans wore T-shirts that read, “Unfinished business.’’ And when the game was over, Gonzaga players and coaches were handed Tshirts that read, “Cut Down the Net.’’ And so they did. “I dreamed about cutting down the net … and woke up in the morning and I just had a great feeling about it,’’ center Zach Collins said.
“My last 23 years of life have been spent thinking about cutting down a net.” senior guard Reb Bakamus said. “It was even sweeter in person than it was in all the dreams.’’
When it was time for Few to make the final clip of the net, before he climbed the ladder, he hugged a friend and said, “It’s real.’’
“It’s been a long, hard journey to get this program here,’’ Few said.
“We had a plan for ourselves,’’ said Nigel Williams-Goss, who led all scorers with 23 points. “We believed from day one, when we all stepped foot on this campus, that we could go to Phoenix. We didn’t shy away from setting that goal, and we bought in.’’
Xavier coach Chris Mack bought what Gonzaga was selling.
“I give a lot of credit to Gonzaga,’’ Mack said. “They were the better team [and] they played like it. Sometimes you just lose to a better team. They’ve proven it all year long. They lost one game. … And their record’s their record for a reason.’’
Xavier, which finished the season 24-14 after a magical ride to the Elite Eight, was trying to become only fourth No. 11 seed ever to reach a Final Four.
But the Musketeers never had a chance against a barrage of Bulldogs’ 3-pointers.
After playing so well on defense the entire tournament, flummoxing opponents with its switching zone defenses, Xavier had no answers for Gonzaga’s long-distance shooting, which was
the difference in the game.
Gonzaga was 12-of-24 from 3-point range, 8of-13 in the first half, during which it opened a 49-39 lead. Conversely, Xavier was just 2-of-16 from long distance.
“A team that’s 290th in the country relying on 3point shots goes 12-for-24, 50 percent from the 3point line … you’re not going to win against many teams with their size when they’re shooting it that well,’’ Mack said.
Gonzaga benefitted from an eye-opening performance from Johnathan Williams, who scored 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting despite entering the game averaging 10.1 points per game. He was named the most outstanding player of the regional.
Defensively, Gonzaga did a great job on Xavier’s leading scorer, Trevon Bluiett, who was held to 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting. Bluiett was coming off a 25-point performance in Xavier’s upset win over Arizona in the West Region semifinal on Thursday night and he had scored 75 points in three NCAA Tournament games this month.
He had 10 points in the first half, but was held scoreless in the second half.
It was a sudden and heartbreaking end for Xavier, which like Gonzaga was seeking the first Final Four berth in school history. The Musketeers, who have been to the NCAA Tournament 11 of the past 12 years, now are 0-3 in regional finals, previously having lost to Duke in 2004 and UCLA in 2008.
Gonzaga had been 0-2 in regional finals, with losses to Duke in 2015 and Connecticut in 1999. But now, the Zags finally have crossed the line, while Xavier must wait.
“We finally got one,’’ Gonzaga’s Silas Melson said. “We worked all year for this. We knew we could do it. We knew we had the right pieces. We had a goal to cut down three nets this season — the [West Coast Conference[, the Final Four … and hopefully the last net is next week.’’