Gonzaga celebrates Thursday after beating West Virginia and moving one win from its first Final Four.
They are no longer the NCAA tournament’s favorite Cinderella, but the Gonzaga Bulldogs are now as close as they’ve ever been to shedding the other label they have accumulated over the last decade and a half of consistent excellence.
Viewed by some as March underachievers for failing to make a Final Four, the No. 1-seeded Bulldogs need one more win to free themselves of that burden. They beat No. 4 seed West Virginia 6158 on Thursday night at SAP Center and advanced to the Elite Eight for the second time under coach Mark Few.
They’ll play the winner between second-seeded Arizona and No. 11 Xavier on Saturday for the West Region title.
Aside from pure survival, there was nothing pleasing about the experience for Gonzaga, which got drawn into a choppy, foul-filled game that should have played right into West Virginia’s hands. But the Bulldogs, whose No. 1ranked defense has led them to a 35-1 record, showed up again, holding West Virginia to 16-for-60 shooting, a paltry 26.7%.
That set the stage for Gonzaga, which survived its own cold streaks throughout the game, to come back with five consecutive points after West Virginia took a 58-55 lead on Jevon Carter’s three-pointer with 1:45 remaining.
After West Virginia guard Daxter Miles Jr. missed two free throws with 1:08 remaining, Gonzaga point guard Nigel WilliamsGoss found Jordan Mathews with a running, cross-court pass that he swished for a three-pointer and a 60-58 lead with 57.3 seconds left. Mathews finished with 13 points, shooting 3-for-8 from three-point range on a night the rest of the team was 1-for-2.
Then in the waning seconds, Gonzaga finished off the victory when Williams- Goss brilliantly defended Carter on a pair of would-be tying three-point shots. Then, his defense forced Carter, who had 21 points and made four three-pointers, to give up the ball for a third and final attempt to send the game into overtime. West Virginia didn’t get a shot off before the buzzer.
In some ways, it was a miracle the Mountaineers even had a chance, given how difficult they found it to even get a clean look at the basket.
A year ago, Gonzaga melted down in the Sweet 16 when Syracuse slapped on a full-court press with three minutes left.
Seemingly on cruise control up until the point, the Bulldogs suddenly turned the ball over, unsuccessfully attacked for quick shots and let a five-point lead slip away.
This time, Gonzaga made all the big plays down the stretch.