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Gonzaga advanced to their eighth straight Sweet 16 on Sunday. The no. 3 seed Bulldogs beat no. 6 seed TCU 84-81 and used a late stretch to pull away from the Horned Frogs to ice the win.
It was a closely contested game with immense pressure on Gonzaga, who was expected to advance and has not missed the second weekend of the tournament since 2014.
All-American forward Drew Timme had some select words to acknowledge the pressure his teammates were feeling. Timme said post game:
“We have been in seven straight Sweet 16’s, I said we cannot be the team that f**ks this one up”
Timme led the way for Gonzaga with 28 points on 12 of 21 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and three assists. The star player also had 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting in Gonzaga’s first round win against Grand Canyon.
His head coach, Mark Few, is 4-7 in Sweet 16 games.
The Bulldogs face a tough foe in the Sweet 16. They will take on the no. 2 seed UCLA in the West region. The game tips off at 9:45pm ET on CBS on Thursday, March 23. The two will clash in T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The two programs played one of the greatest tournament games in history when Gonzaga knocked off UCLA in the 2021 Final Four. Star guard Jalen Suggs hit an incredible half-court in overtime to send Gonzaga to the title game.
Gonzaga also handed UCLA a 20-point loss in a regular-season matchup in Las Vegas last season. UCLA opened as a -2 point favorite with a total of 145.5. It should be a high-scoring affair as the player averages 87.3 points per game, 2nd best in the nation. The team averages 74.1 points per game.
Advanced analytics lean towards UCLA as they rank 3rd in KenPom while Gonzaga ranks 7th. The Bulldogs are 1st in adjusted offense while the Bruins are 2nd in adjusted defense. It will be a clash of styles and likely a race to 80.
Timme will be a big deciding factor in this one, especially since UCLA will be without Pac-12 player of the year Jaylen Clark, who is out due to an achilles injury.
Guess the Lakers players!
