March Mismatch: Gonzaga tops Utah 82-59 to move to Sweet 16
DENVER (AP) - Leave the buzzer-beaters and heart-stoppers to the other guys.
For Gonzaga, these are the March Mismatches.
The Bulldogs, looking like something much different than an 11 seed, rolled over No. 3 Utah on Saturday, 82-59 behind 22 points from Eric McClellan and a 19-point, 10-rebound effort from Domantas Sabonis.
This was a wire-to-wire effort even more impressive than their 16-point win over Seton Hall in the first round.
Next up for the Zags (28-7), a game against Syracuse or Middle Tennessee in the Midwest Regional.
Kyle Wiltjer had 17 for Gonzaga, and went 3 for 4 from 3-point range.
This game was billed as a battle of big guys, between the 6-foot-11 Sabonis and Utah's 7-footer, Jakob Poeltl. That fizzled. Poeltl finished with five points and four rebounds. He got in foul trouble early - drawing his first when Sabonis spun to the baseline and left Poeltl grabbing to prevent the dunk.
On Utah's first possession of the second half, Poeltl posted up and tried the hook. Sabonis, who had a block and two steals to go with his 22nd double-double of the season, redirected it and the ball never got to the glass.
A few minutes later, McClellan converted a steal by Kyle Dranginis into a layup and a three-point play to push Gonzaga's lead to 20.
From there, this was a pick-your-score runaway - the only drama involving when Mark Few would give his eight-man rotation a break and let some of the walk-ons and others get a piece of the action. For the record, that came with 1:39 left, and by then, Gonzaga fans were booking their tickets to Chicago for next Friday's game.
This has not been an easy season for Few's team, and the trials and tribulations have been spelled out in detail on a behind-the-scenes documentary airing on HBO: "The March to Madness," that chonicled Gonzaga's seven-loss regular season, the season-ending injury to star center Przemek Karnowski and the struggle simply to make the tournament for the 18th straight year.
The documentary is over. The march goes on. It's Gonzaga's second straight Sweet 16 appearance and, at this rate, it's not impossible to think even bigger. For all its success over the past two decades, Gonzaga has never made the Final Four.
TIP-INS:
Gonzaga: Josh Perkins had 10 for the Zags. ... Gonzaga outrebounded Utah 34-24.
Utah: Kyle Kuzma led the Utes with 15 points and Lorenzo Bonam added 12.
NEXT:
Gonzaga: Sweet 16 against Middle Tennessee or Syracuse
Utah: Season over.