Clarke, Gonzaga slam Baylor
Next stop on the Brandon Clarke Dunk ‘n Swat Festival: The Sweet 16.
The Gonzaga forward had five monster dunks, five blocks, matched a career-high with 36 points and enjoyed the overall kind of night that earns potential Nbaers millions, while leading the top-seeded Bulldogs to an 83-71 rejection of Baylor on Saturday in Salt Lake City.
This second-round matchup in the West Region wasn’t exactly a blowout, but wasn’t quite a nail-biter, either. That doesn’t mean it lacked entertainment.
Most of it centered on Clarke, the junior transfer from San Jose State, who started the fireworks with a windmill jam on a breakaway that gave Gonzaga (32-3) an early 16-7 lead.
A few possessions later, Clarke took a bounce pass on the break from Josh Perkins for a two-handed flush that had the Gonzaga kids in the Kennel going ga-ga .
Clark’s final dunk of the first half came at the end of a 5-second clinic on how to deal with Baylor’s floor-clogging 1-3-1 zone. Starting at the perimeter, all five Bulldogs touched the ball in the span of those 5 seconds; it ended with Killian Tillie’s hookflip to Clarke for a jam. It was as gorgeous a display of basketball as you’ll see all year and put the Bulldogs ahead 35-16.
Ninth-seeded Baylor (20-14) scored the first 10 points of the second half to draw within six, and keep the game in range.
But Gonzaga held on, and when Clarke took a bounce pass from Perkins, who finished with six assists, it led to an easy bucket that put the Bulldogs up 13 with less than 4 minutes left.
Clarke also had eight rebounds and two steals. He lifted his season blocks total to 110 — now good for best in the nation.
It was the defensive prowess that put him on many NBA draft boards, though there’s been a pretty large spread in opinion about exactly where he might land if he leaves after this season.
His offensive showing in this game can only help.
He went 15 for 18 from the floor, and most of the shots were of the high-percentage variety.
FLORIDA STATE 90, MURRAY STATE 62: Mfiondu Kabengele scored 22 points, Terrance Mann added 18 points and fourth-seeded Florida State (29-7) slammed 12th-seeded Murray State (28-5) in Hartford, Connecticut, to advance to the West regional semifinal. The Seminoles are in the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive year, the first time FSU has pulled that off since 1992-93. The Racers’ Ja Morant was the story of the first-round, posting a triple-double against Marquette. He again had the Murray State fans on their feet early against Florida State. Morant was 5 for 5 from 3-point range in the first half and finished with 28 points, five rebounds and four assists.