The criticism dogged Gonzaga wherever it went, no matter how much it won. The Zags run up their record by beating up on teams in a weak conference, then always seemed to come up short as the calendar went deep into March. Few outside of Spokane believed the program Mark Few helped build from scratch belonged in the national powerhouse conversation.
Just like that, March Madness is down to the Elite Eight.
Gonzaga is an 8½-point favorite over Xavier and Westgate sports book manager Ed Salmons expects the clock to strike midnight on the Musketeers.
Chris Chiozza went end to end and made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Florida an 84-83 victory against Wisconsin on Friday night in the first overtime game of this NCAA Tournament.
De’Aaron Fox scored a career-high 39 points as the Kentucky Wildcats beat UCLA 86-75 Friday night in a showdown between two of college basketball’s goliaths for a spot in the South Regional final.
Devin Booker scored 70 points, becoming the sixth different player in NBA history to reach that total, but the Boston Celtics got 34 points from Isaiah Thomas and outlasted the Phoenix Suns 130-120 on Friday night.
Apparently South Carolina is getting the hang of winning NCAA Tournament games. The Gamecocks, who hadn’t won a tournament game since 1973, got their third this year. One more and it’s on to the Final Four.
Przemek Karnowski is a big reason many think Gonzaga will defeat Xavier on Saturday in the West Region final and reach the Final Four for the first time.
Joel Berry II scored 26 points and Justin Jackson added 24 as top-seeded North Carolina moved to the Elite Eight with a 92-80 victory over Butler in the NCAA South Region on Friday night.
No. 1-seeded Gonzaga meets No. 11 Xavier in the West Region final at 3:09 p.m. Saturday at SAP Center in San Jose, California. The winner will advance to the Final Four.
Las Vegas casino owner Derek Stevens lost his $12,500 futures bet on Michigan at 80-1 odds that would have paid $1 million, and he also lost $109,000 betting on the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
NCAA Tournament action continues today with Day 2 of the Sweet 16 and the East and South regions fighting for a spot in the Elite 8.
Mark Few’s team is an Elite Eight win against Xavier on Saturday from advancing as a No. 1 seed out the West Regional and to Phoenix next week.
One of the final at-large teams selected into the field now stands 40 minutes from a Final Four, meaning the winner of Saturday’s West Regional final between Gonzaga and the 11th-seed Musketeers will reach college basketball’s grandest weekend for the first time.
Player of the year front-runner Frank Mason III poured in 26 points, Kansas turned on the jets in the second half and the top-seeded Jayhawks soared to a 98-66 blowout of No. 4 seed Purdue on Thursday night in the Midwest Regional semifinals.
