The Gonzaga Bulldogs are taking on the South Carolina Gamecocks in the opening game of the Final Four on Saturday.
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SC players huddle during a practice session for their NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball semifinal game Friday, March 31, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. Off the bench, freshman Zach Collins chipped in with a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 13 rebounds while also blocking six shots.
Martin watched players like Sindarius Thornwell give blood, sweat and tears to the SC program.
Each of the Bulldogs’ top performers favored Nike signature sneakers, specifically two of LeBron James’ models.
They may be in a mid-major conference, but they were led on Saturday by a pair of blue-chip recruits in Williams-Goss, the senior point guard who transferred from Washington, and Collins, the freshman 7-footer who, despite coming off the bench behind skilled senior 7-footer Przemek Karnowski, has one-and-done National Basketball Association potential.
PJ Dozier led the Gamecocks with 17 points and Thornwell, the leading scorer in the NCAA Tournament at 25.8 points per game during the first four rounds, finished with 15 on 4-for-12 shooting after starting slow.
With the Win: The Bulldogs are are headed to their first National Championship game in school history. One key for North Carolina will be the health of point guard Joel Berry II, who has been battling ankle issues but is expected to play.
The first half’s biggest storyline had to be Przemek Karnowski’s eye injury.
OREGON: Bell 5-7 3-5 13, Brooks 2-11 6-6 10, Dorsey 3-11 12-12 21, Pritchard 2-6 0-0 5, Ennis 7-19 2-2 18, Smith 2-2 0-0 4, Bigby-Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Benson 1-2 2-3 5.
Kennedy Meeks had a sensational game for the Tar Heels with 25 points and 14 rebounds, including eight off the offensive glass.
SC forward Chris Silva answered with a three-point play of his own, igniting a 16-0 run for a 67-65 Gamecocks lead with 7:06 to go.
The Bulldogs (37-1) will face five-time NCAA champ North Carolina, which barely got by OR 77-76 in the second semifinal. However, the Gamecocks used a 16-0 second-half run to tie the game. The Bulldogs fouled late in the possession, sending Thornwell to the line with 3.5 seconds left in the game.
He was the last guy on his team to score, hitting a free throw with 3 seconds left that cut the lead to two. It was the largest first-half deficit for SC during the tourney.
“I figured there was enough time where they were not going to foul right away to prevent us from shooting a 3”, coach Frank Martin said.
“When we get home and they realize what they’ve done in our community, their hearts will open up with joy”. “We said that we’re brothers; we said that we stick together, and it shows”. We’ve heard we haven’t played tight games.
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But Gonzaga would not go away or fall apart just because SC had rallied.
