{"id":25033,"date":"2017-03-24T09:51:48","date_gmt":"2017-03-24T09:51:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=25033"},"modified":"2017-03-24T09:51:48","modified_gmt":"2017-03-24T09:51:48","slug":"no-1-gonzaga-knocks-no-4-west-virginia-advances-elite-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/no-1-gonzaga-knocks-no-4-west-virginia-advances-elite-8.html","title":{"rendered":"No. 1 Gonzaga knocks out No. 4 West Virginia, advances to Elite 8"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tNo. 1 Gonzaga knocks out No. 4 West Virginia, advances to Elite 8<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span>
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\n\tNo. 1 Gonzaga knocks out No. 4 West Virginia, advances to Elite 8:- They are no longer the NCAA tournament’s favorite Cinderella, but the Gonzaga Bulldogs are now as close as they’ve ever been to shedding the other label they have accumulated over the last decade and a half of consistent excellence.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tConsidered by some to be March underachievers for failing to make a Final Four, the No. 1 seed Bulldogs need just one more win to free themselves of that burden. They beat No. 4 seed West Virginia 61-58, on Thursday night at SAP Center and advanced to the Elite Eight for the second time under Mark Few. They’ll play the winner between No. 2 seed Arizona and No. 11 Xavier on Saturday for the West Regional title.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t“Credit to us for staying together,” said guard Nigel Williams-Goss, whose virtuoso defense in the final 30 seconds denied West Virginia sharpshooter Jevon Carter two easy looks to tie the game. “You hear a lot about their toughness and we took that personally. We wanted to make it tough for them, and we did a great job responding to the physicality and their helter-skelter style.”<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tConsidered by some to be March underachievers for failing to make a Final Four, the No. 1 seed Bulldogs need just one more win to free themselves of that burden. They beat No. 4 seed West Virginia, 61-58, on Thursday night at SAP Center and advanced to the Elite Eight for the second time under Mark Few. They’ll play the winner between No. 2 seed Arizona and No. 11 Xavier on Saturday for the West Regional title.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t“Credit to us for staying together,” said guard Nigel Williams-Goss, whose virtuoso defense in the final 30 seconds denied West Virginia sharpshooter Jevon Carter two easy looks to tie the game. “You hear a lot about their toughness and we took that personally. We wanted to make it tough for them and we did a great job responding to the physicality and their helter-skelter style.”<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAside from pure survival, there was nothing pleasing about the experience for Gonzaga, which got drawn into a choppy, foul-filled game that should have played right into West Virginia’s hands. But the Bulldogs, whose No. 1-ranked defense has now led them to a 35-1 record, showed up again, holding West Virginia to 16-of-60 shooting for a paltry 26.7%.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThat set the stage for Gonzaga, which survived its own cold streaks throughout the game, to come back with five consecutive points after West Virginia took a 58-55 lead on Carter’s three-pointer with 1:45 remaining.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter West Virginia guard Daxter Miles Jr., missed a pair of free throws with 1:08 remaining, Gonzaga guard Josh Perkins blocked Nathan Adrian’s putback attempt, starting a fast-break and ultimately the defining sequence of the game. Dribbling toward the right wing, Williams-Goss whipped a running pass to the other side of the arc, where Jordan Matthews confidently stepped into a three-pointer that put Gonzaga ahead 60-58 with 57.3 seconds left.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t“I had all the confidence in the world he was going to make it,” Williams-Goss said.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMathews finished with 13 points, making three of eight from the three-point line on a night the rest of the team only attempted a combined two threes.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t“I just let it go,” Mathews said. “I didn’t think about it. I just shot it and I didn’t see it go in, but I heard it. So happy it went down.”<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThen in the waning seconds, Gonzaga finished off the victory when Williams-Goss brilliantly defended Carter on a pair of tying three-point attempts, staying attached to him once, then again when the offensive rebound came back to him on the right wing. On the third try to get a good look, Williams-Goss fought off an attempt to screen him at the top of the key, forcing Carter, who ha 21 points and made four three-pointers, to finally give the ball up. But his pass didn’t allow Miles enough time to get a shot off before the buzzer, allowing Gonzaga to move on.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t“I just tried to make it as hard as possible,” Williams-Goss, who played with four fouls for the final eight minutes, said. “I told myself I’d give it all I had for 37 seconds. If I was in his shoes, I’d try to make a play as well. He’s been their guy all season long.”<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSaid Perkins: “We just didn’t want to give them any open looks at a three. Nigel took it personal. At that point, whoever wants it more usually wins. He got over ball screens and contested the shots.”<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIn some ways, it was a miracle the Mountaineers even had a chance given how difficult they found it to even get a clean look at the basket.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tGonzaga built a 45-37 lead with 14 minutes left but got dragged into the muck again, allowing West Virginia to gain confidence despite mounting foul trouble. The Bulldogs suddenly went cold themselves, turning it over five times in a stretch of a little more than five minutes while making just 1-of-7 field goals. That allowed West Virginia to take a 52-49 lead with 5:53 left, but Gonzaga showed a level of toughness down the stretch that Few’s previous teams have been criticized for not having in the NCAA tournament.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tA year ago, Gonzaga melted down in the Sweet 16 when Syracuse slapped on a full-court press  with three minutes left. Seemingly on cruise control up until the point, the Bulldogs suddenly turned the ball over, unsuccessfully attacked for quick shots and let a five-point lead slip away.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThis time, Gonzaga made all the big plays down the stretch.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t“That was just an absolute war, rock fight, however you want to describe it,” Few said. “Those are two really, really tough teams, two really physical teams that laid it all on the line. And fortunately we made the two big plays at the end. All year we’ve been banking on our defense, our defense, our defense and our defense stepped up and got it done.”<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSource:- http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/ncaab\/2017\/03\/23\/gonzaga-bulldogs-west-virginia-mountaineers-sweet-16-ncaa-tournament-march-madness\/99550720\/<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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