Bulldogs reach Elite Eight for the third time
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Jevon Carter fired up two potential tying 3-pointers only to see them go off-target and Gonzaga didn’t allow West Virginia to get off a third.
A defensive stop was a fitting way for this offensively challenged matchup to end.
Jordan Mathews hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with less than a minute to play and top-seeded Gonzaga survived a rough shooting night all around to beat No. 4 seed West Virginia, 61-58, Thursday night to advance to the West Region final.
“All year we’ve been banking on our defense, our defense, our defense,” coach Mark Few said. “Our defense stepped up and got it done there at the end. So we are absolutely elated to continue to be playing. We’re 40 minutes away from a Final Four.”
The Bulldogs (35-1) needed that defense to make their third Elite Eight in school history on a night that featured 51 fouls and only 34 made baskets. They also needed someone to make a key shot and Mathews delivered with the 3-pointer that made it 60-58.
“We had never come across that throughout the season. It wasn’t frustration. It was more like, I don’t know, confusion, trying to Gonzaga center Przemek Karnowski grabs a rebound in front of West Virginia forward Nathan Adrian during the first half of the Bulldogs’ 61-58 win Thursday night in San Jose, Calif. Karnowski had 13 points and five rebounds. figure it out,” Mathews said of the shooting woes. “But just staying the course and just rallying around our guys and just thinking about the defensive end, helped my offense in the end.”
West Virginia (29-8) had three shots to tie the score but Tarik Phillip missed a shot from the lane and Jevon Carter missed two 3-pointers after Gonzaga’s Silas Melson made one free throw. The Mountaineers rebounded both but couldn’t get another shot in the final 13 seconds.
“To know you were so close and you gave everything you had and to come up sort, it hurts,” said Carter, who had a game-high 21 points.
Despite shooting 26.7 percent for the game, West Virginia stayed close and took a 58-55 lead on a 3-pointer by Carter with 1:47 to play. But the Mountaineers didn’t score again.
Nigel Williams-Goss answered with two free throws. After Daxter Miles Jr. missed two free throws and Nathan Adrian was blocked by Josh Perkins on the putback, Williams-Goss found Mathews in the corner for the open 3-pointer that proved the winner.
“You tell me another team in the country who can shoot 26 percent from the field against a No. 1 seed, 21 percent from 3 and still could have, should have won the game,” coach Bob Huggins said. “That says a lot about what kind of guys we have.”
Mathews, Przemek Karnowski and Johnathan Williams all had 13 points to lead the Bulldogs.