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Gonzaga rides its frontcourt to first Elite Eight under Mark Few
In Mark Few's 16 seasons as head coach at Gonzaga, the Zags have won more than 400 games, captured 14 league championships and advanced to the NCAA tournament every year.
The one thing Few had not done is taken a team past the Sweet 16.
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Gonzaga checked that milestone off Few's list Friday night, riding a dominant performance by its frontcourt to a 74-62 victory over 11th-seeded UCLA. The second-seeded Zags will meet either Duke or Utah on Sunday in their first Elite Eight game since 1999 when Dan Monson was still their coach.
The resounding victory over the Bruins surely was cathartic for longtime Gonzaga fans still scarred by the memory of their 2006 Sweet 16 collapse. A formidable Zags team led by national player of the year Adam Morrison led UCLA by 17 in the first half and by nine with three-plus minutes to go, but Gonzaga yielded the final 11 points of the game to fall in heartbreaking fashion.
Gonzaga avoided such a calamity this time by exploiting mismatches in the frontcourt.
Mammoth 7-footer Przemek Karnowski overpowered Tony Parker and Thomas Welsh with his back-to-the-basket game in the paint, scoring 18 points on only 11 shots and even dazzling the crowd at NRG Stadium in Houston with a gorgeous behind-the-back assist. Domantas Sabonis came off the bench to deliver 12 points on 6-for-9 shooting and Kyle Wiltjer had a couple nice hook shots in the paint too.
It was imperative for Gonzaga to find ways to score in the paint because neither team had any luck shooting in the domed football stadium. The Zags were an anemic 3-for-19 from behind the arc. UCLA was only slightly better at 3-for-13.
While NRG Stadium was also the site of the awful shooting display between Butler and UConn in the 2011 national title game, recent history doesn't suggest the venue is any worse for outside shooters than other NCAA tournament sites. In the previous six NCAA tournament games prior to Friday night, teams shot a very respectable 36.7 percent from behind the arc at NRG Stadium.
Gonzaga will probably need to hit some jump shots in its next game to advance to its first Final Four, but its interior game was more than enough to beat UCLA. The Zags answered a mini-run from UCLA to open the second half with a surge of their own, increasing their lead to as many as 17 points in a game that reflected how far their program has come during Few's tenure.
The last time Gonzaga made the Elite Eight in 1999, it was an obscure small-conference program known only for the upsets it sprung that March.
On Friday, the Zags won as No. 2 seeds and clear favorites over one of college basketball's most storied programs.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
