Survival of SC proves again there’s nothing Gonzaga can’t do

In the final eight minutes alone, he had five rebounds and three blocks – including a crucial one with 1:21 to go.

They will meet the victor of the North Carolina Tar Heels and Oregon Ducks, who are playing now from University of Phoenix Stadium.

“His kind of whole package is very unsafe”, said Gonzaga coach Mark Few, who was named national coach of the year Thursday. The former Washington point guard has had a spectacular season and it was on full display in every facet of the game on Saturday against SC. SC passed the ball around and Gonzaga fouled Sindarius Thornwell with 3.5 seconds left. Thornwell had a big jumper in the run and 10 in the second half after a 1-for-5 first half.

Thornwell made his first foul shot but missed his second – presumably on goal – but Gonzaga’s Killian Tillie grabbed the rebound, made both free throws after being fouled, and secured the Zags’ first trip to the NCAA championship game. And they just did a good job of protecting the rim. “But I thought, you know, getting those blocked shots would help us”. With so much time remaining, rushing the process could have a Gonzaga player on the line with a one-point lead, shooting one-and-one, with over 10 seconds left.

North Carolina head coach Roy Williams, center, laughs with forward Theo Pinson, left, and forward Kennedy Meeks, right, during a practice session for their NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball semifinal game Frida.

But Gonzaga would not go away or fall apart just because SC had rallied.

Experience has been a key word around the two programs this week in advance of their national semifinal game on Saturday. “Now we’re 40 minutes from a championship”.

Gonzaga has scored 807 of its 3,080 points this season (26 percent) on 3-pointers, though it does shoot 37 percent from the arc.

This national championship trophy will not be going back to Columbia, South Carolina.

Gonzaga is the top seed and has only one loss, but SC continues to get little respect despite their impressive run. The team’s leading scorer was sophomore P.J. Dozier, who had 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting, while adding nine rebounds.

Przemek Karnowski – 7-foot-1 and 300 pounds – took a hand to the face and went down hard under the Gonzaga basket.

South Carolina’s second round upset of Duke doesn’t seem like that big of an upset anymore, given how well the Gamecocks played during the East Regional in NY.

Of course, the Bulldogs also were faced with the historical mountain of having never played in a Final Four game either. 3 (Baylor) and 4 (Florida) seeds in the East Regional. Allisha Gray scored a game-high 18 points and A’Ja Wilson finished with 13 points and a game-high 19 rebounds.

Halftime – Gonzaga 45-36.