SALT LAKE CITY — Behind Anton Watson's 21 points, the No. 5-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs played a near-perfect second half to rout the Kansas Jayhawks 89-68 and punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 on Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs (27-7) will be making their ninth-straight appearance — the nation's longest streak — and have been on a roll since mid-January, going 16-2 since Jan. 18.
“Late December, it was looking like maybe it wasn't going to happen," said Mark Few, his hair still damp from the dousing he received in the postgame locker room. "But I'll give credit. These guys stayed coachable. We figured it out."
The game was viewed as a rare matchup between two highly-touted programs, and lived up to its billing in the beginning. The game saw eight lead changes, including a stretch of the first half where both teams combined to make nine straight shots from the field, trading leads on almost every possession.
But then Zags caught fire, using a 15-0 run early in the second half to turn this game into a laugher. They also made the first five 3-pointers of the out of the locker room and didn't miss a shot from behind the arc until the final 90 seconds of the game.
Ben Gregg finished 6-of-6 from the field, with 15 points and nine rebounds. Graham Ike added 15 and nine boards, matching Kansas' center Hunter Dickinson — who finished with a quiet 15 points.
Much of the Bulldogs success lied with Ryan Nembhard, as he shrugged off a cold-shooting night to finish with 12 assists in the game and become the program's career leader.
Kansas (23-11) struggled to maintain any energy after an emotional, hard-fought victory over Samford on Thursday night. During Gonzaga's scoring run to begin the second half, the Jayhawks missed 10-consecutive shots.
Kansas forward KJ Adams Jr. finished with 10 points.
The Bulldogs will advance to Detroit, where they will play the winner of Sunday’s game between Purdue and Utah State.
North Carolina State 79, Oakland 73
PITTSBURGH — The No. 11 seed North Carolina State Wolfpack used a 9-0 run in overtime to win 79-73 over the 14th-seeded Oakland Golden Grizzlies in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night.
NC State (24-14) will be making their first appearance in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2015. They will face either second-seeded Marquette and 10th-seeded Colorado in Dallas on Friday in the South Region semifinals.
The run was sparked by DJ Burns' putback to help the Wolfpack finally pull away from 3-point specialist Jack Gohlke and the Horizon League champion Golden Grizzlies
Gohlke, who put on a shooting clinic with 10 treys against Kentucky on Thursday, made six more and finished with 22 points. But the Golden Grizzlies (24-12) had trouble down the stretch, missing 10 of their final 11 shots. Trey Townsend, the Horizon League Player of the Year, had 30 points and 13 rebounds.
And while the Wolfpack led for most of the game, they had trouble shaking an Oakland team who was confident the could go further after their first-round win.
NC State never trailed during the first half, using their size advantage to dominate the paint as Burns used his 6-foot-9, 275-pound frame to score 24 points from the field.
But Gohlke and the Golden Grizzlies kept hanging in there.He knocked down his first 3-point attempt and then added two more, as the Wolfpack took a slim 32-29 lead into halftime.
Townsend gave Oakland its first lead of the game with a three-point play with 2:49 remaining in regulation, setting up a tense and tight finish.
Michael O'Connell had 12 points for the Wolfpack. DJ Horne and Casey Morsell added 11 apiece. Jayden Taylor came off the bench in overtime to hit a 3-pointer that put N.C. State ahead by five.
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