Final Four: Gonzaga, North Carolina to play for title

GLENDALE, Ariz. — In 19 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, coach Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs never made it to the Final Four until this year.

Now they will play for the national championship after defeating South Carolina 77-73 on Saturday at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Bulldogs face North Carolina in the final Monday.

Nigel Williams-Goss, a junior guard, contributed 23 points, six assists and five rebounds, and his freshman roommate, Zach Collins, added 14 points and 13 rebounds for Gonzaga (37-1), a program that thrust itself into the spotlight by reaching the Elite Eight in 1999 — but until this season had never gotten any further.

On Saturday, the Bulldogs could barely contain their excitement at the opportunity they had given themselves to be unequivocally known as college basketball’s best.

Few, who is known for his even-keeled demeanor, was so overcome with emotion that he executed a handstand in the locker room. “Sometimes I worry that my guys get, like, it’s a job,” he said. “And we’ve been on them to show emotion. So that’s my fairly weak effort of showing emotion.”

South Carolina (26-11), a seventh seed that had defied expectations to get so far, was also making its first trip to the Final Four. The Gamecocks’ Sindarius Thornwell, a senior guard who had not scored fewer than 24 points in any tournament game, was held to a relatively quiet 15. Chris Silva finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

“We played our hearts out the way we did all year,” senior Justin McKie said, “and Gonzaga played a great game.”

Before the opening tip, Gonzaga center Przemek Karnowski approached Thornwell, one senior to another, and extended his hand. Thornwell brushed past him, leaving Karnowski to stare quizzically and shrug.

“Maybe that’s how he is,” Karnowski said afterward. “I don’t really know him.”

Karnowski missed most of last season with a lower-back injury that required surgery, then was felled 14 minutes into the game with a poke to the right eye.

Collins, a 7-foot forward, chipped in immediately. He contributed three rebounds, including two on the defensive end, two points and a blocked shot in the next frenetic 2½ minutes to help Gonzaga to a 42-36 halftime lead.

Karnowski returned with seven points in the second half to finish with 13. Collins had a strong second half with six points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots.

“We did a really good job I thought of just sticking together,” Karnowski said. “That’s what we did the entire season. We don’t have 37 wins for nothing.”

As Few and some of his players made their way up to the interview-room dais, the moderator announced, “Gonzaga has arrived.”

It just took longer than perhaps Few would have expected.

“To be playing the last game of the year,” he said, “is crazy cool.”