NCAA Tournament Blog: Wrapping up the SLC Regional

By Carter Williams | Posted - March 18, 2017 at 3:59 p.m.

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

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Saturday, 09:48pm

Wrapping up the SLC Regional

There you have it; the finishing touches are put on the Salt Lake City Regional for the first and second round of the NCAA Tournament. It's all chalk here, with the top two seeds, Gonzaga and Arizona, advancing to the Sweet 16 in San Jose, California next Thursday. The Zags will face West Virginia, while the Wildcats draw head coach Sean Miller's former squad, Xavier in what should be a fantastic matchup. Is this the best Gonzaga team Mark Few has coached? He wouldn't commit in the postgame press conference.

Photo: Spenser Heaps, Deseret News "Ultimately we're going to have to accomplish that Final Four to kind of put it to rest and all that," he said. "Again, I look back at all of them as being special. I think this is the 19th straight to the tournament, which isn't easy, as you know. And I think yesterday was like nine straight times we'd won a game in a tournament. I don't know if anybody's been doing that. They're all best to me." So we'll leave you with this question: for parents, which is your favorite child? And for children, who is your favorite parent? See; it's not easy. Good night from Vivint Arena.

Saturday, 08:11pm

Trier's second-half effort rallies Arizona to win

Allonzo Trier tried scored all 14 of his points in the second half, and Lauri Markkanen had 16 points and 10 rebounds to help second-seeded Arizona rally for a 69-60 win over Saint Mary's in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Vivint Arena. Jock Landale had a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Gaels, and Calvin Hermanson scored 14. Trier scored nine points during a key 11-2 run to help Arizona rally for the win. Saint Mary's could cut the deficit to one possession with 1:25 left, but Tanner Krebs' 3-point attempt was off the mark, and Trier nailed two free throws on the other end to give the Wildcats a 67-60 lead.

Saturday, 07:49pm

Arizona's back

The Pac 12 regular season and tournament champion didn't have a great start, but the Wildcats are making up for it now. Lauri Markkanen has 12 points, and Dusan Ristic adds 11 as Arizona is hanging with the Gaels' quick-tempo offense. Both teams are tied at 44-44 with 11:36 to play. Also, Arizona's Kadeem Allen did this. We're pretty sure it's good.

Kadeem Allen with the big-time jam! #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/46nIjNspXV

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 19, 2017

Saturday, 07:11pm

Halftime: Saint Mary's 30, Arizona 29

The Wildcats have weathered the storm, and pulled within one at the break — a minor miracle, based on the start of the game. But Lauri Markkanen has nine points, including a massive dunk with :54 seconds left in the half, and the Wildcats are clawing back to make this a game. SMC's Jock Landale leads all scorers with 12, but had just one field goal in the final 11:58 of the first half.

Saturday, 06:52pm

Well, that escalated quickly ...

If Saint Mary's was intimidated by the second-seeded Wildcats from the West Regional, the Gaels aren't showing it early. Jock Landale has been a handle inside for Arizona, with 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting and 6 rebounds, and the Gaels have a 22-12 lead with 5:07 left in the first half.

Saturday, 05:46pm

Gonzaga holds off Northwestern rally

The Zags led by as many as 22 points in the second half, but the debutants rallied. Nigel Williams-Goss had a team-high 19 points, and Zach Collins scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half to help the Zags hold on for a 79-73 win over Northwestern in the first Round of 32 game in Salt Lake City. Vic Law scored 15 of 18 points in the second half to lead the Northwestern rally, and Bryant McIntosh had another 20 and six assists for the spirit Big Ten team.

Saturday, 05:20pm

Northwestern tries to rally

The Wildcats have cut the deficit as low as nine points twice in the second half, but can't get over the hump. Gonzaga is shooting 13 percent better from the field, but a few errant officiating calls don't help, either. We feel you, Northwestern fans.

This young fan does not agree with the call. pic.twitter.com/A50cJE2D9N

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 18, 2017

Saturday, 04:51pm

Gonzaga holding steady in second half

Vic Law has come alive in the second half for the Wildcats, hitting his third 3-pointer to try to jumpstart the Northwestern offense. But everything the Wildcats are doing is just treading water with a huge halftime deficit. They'll need stops on the defensive end, and Gonzaga is still shooting at 49 percent, and Zach Collins is emerging in the paint with eight points as Zags lead 56-39 with 11:55 left.

Saturday, 04:15pm

Halftime: Gonzaga 38, Northwestern 20

Zags showed the rest of the country what West Coat Conference fans knew, and mostly abhorred, all season: Nigel Williams-Goss is a player. The Washington transfer had 14 points and four assists in the first half to lead the Zags to an 18-point lead, and Johnathan Williams had six points. Perhaps no better play illustrated the inside-out combo of the Zags than when Williams-Goss’ hit Williams with an alley-oop that cemented a 16-4 run in the first half for the Zags, and put the WCC powerhouse in firm control.

Saturday, 03:56pm

Is Northwestern's run coming to an end?

There's still plenty of time left but Northwestern just got to 10 points with six minutes left in the first half to snapped Gonzaga's 16-2 run that lasted about 10 minutes. Gonzaga leads 26-10 with 5 minutes left in the first half.They're shooting 48 percent from the floor while Northwestern is shooting 24 percent. Northwestern also losing points off turnover battle, 7-0.

Saturday, 03:31pm

Top-seeded Zags face road game in second round

Much like they did in the first-round matchup against Vanderbilt, Northwestern fans have packed Vivint Arena for the Wildcats' first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. Every Northwestern possession is cheered. Every Bulldog touch is booed. It's a road atmosphere for Gonzaga, which is what they expected — and kind of hoped for. "That's what we want," Gonzaga's Silas Melson said after Friday's practice. "We like playing with our backs against the wall. We like playing when fans are against us." Still, there's a lot of red in the arena. As WCC fans know from Las Vegas, Gonzaga fans travel exceptionally well.

Friday, 05:05pm

Wildcats wary of Saint Mary's defense

A lot of people have heard of the Saint Mary's offense, an efficient squad that scores 72.7 points per game. But Allonzo Trier is just as cautious of the No. 19 Gaels' defense, which limited opponents to 60.7 ppg. "I think we're going to have to be very patient," said Trier, who will lead No. 7 Arizona into the second round Saturday at 5:45 p.m. MT on CBS. "They're a very good defensive team. They're very much like us, as in they play only all man. They're very sound. They do a great job rotating on defense, and they're well coached." Of course, that offense is a handful, too. "Not until you go against Saint Mary's do you truly understand how well they move the ball, how well they execute, and how together they are on both offense and defense," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "And I really believe this, that we are up against a great team, a team that's more than capable of winning several games in this tournament."

Friday, 03:29pm

Gaels know 'Zona

Saint Mary's hasn't played Arizona, but the West Coast Conference school is plenty familiar with its second-round matchup against the Pac 12 powerhouse. The Gaels and Wildcats didn't meet this year, but have scrimmaged for three straight years prior to the regular season, and that experience can go a long way for a Saint Mary's team in their first time matchup against the No. 2 seed in the West regional. "Playing in the scrimmage you kind of get familiar, you have a familiar sense of their style of play and their defensive principles, their offensive system," Saint Mary's guard Joe Rahon said. "So that definitely helps, rather than preparing two days for a team you're completely blind to and have no idea what they're about. The familiarity will help a little bit." That doesn't make the matchup easy, coach Randy Bennett was quick to add. "They can be really dangerous in transition. And they're big on the boards, very similar to VCU that way," Bennett said. "They have a few more ways to score. They're pretty balanced. They have a lot of guys that can make a basket on that team."

Friday, 02:18pm

Northwestern wants to be David to Gonzaga's Goliath

Northwestern star Bryant McIntosh isn't afraid of the David-vs-Goliath comparisons of the Wildcats' second-round opponent, top-seeded Gonzaga. A devout Christian, McIntosh knows how that story ends. "They're one of the best teams in the country, so you kind of understand that narrative that people are trying to give off," McIntosh said. "I would be okay with being the David in this situation, just from my upbringing, I understand the backstory of that one." Northwestern coach Chris Collins added that every team by the Round of 32 is a good team, and Gonzaga is among the best. "We're really excited about the opportunity in front of us tomorrow, playing a great program," he said. "One of the best teams in the country this year. It's going to be a tough challenge but it's going to be a super opportunity."

Friday, 01:36pm

Zags have become the hunted

Gonzaga knows it is among the most-hunted teams in the NCAA Tournament, one of four teams with the one-seed line. But that doesn't concern the Zags, the top team in the West Coast Conference that was ranked No. 1 overall until their lone loss of the season, against BYU in the regular-season finale. "Being the best team in our conference, we get teams' best every game," Gonzaga guard Josh Perkins said. "Going on the road it's a packed house. Like you said, the target is bigger and bigger on a bigger stage. But we embrace it and it brings out the best in us."

Thursday, 10:40pm

Practice day at Vivint Arena

No games are scheduled for Friday, but Saturday's second-round teams of Gonzaga, Northwestern, Saint Mary's and Arizona will practice on the Utah Jazz's home floor throughout the day. Practices are closed to the media and the public, but we're in the media room awaiting each team's daily press briefing. First up will be Gonzaga; we'll bring you highlights throughout the day as each team gets ready for Saturday's second round.

Thursday, 10:35pm

Wrapping up Day 1 live blog

That wraps up our live blog coverage of the first day of the NCAA tournament in Salt Lake City. We hope you enjoyed following along with the games, sights, and fans from Vivint Arena. That's not the end of KSL.com's coverage, however. We'll continue to have dispatches from the tournament, including of the teams' press conferences tomorrow and game action Saturday. Keep watching KSL.com's sports section for more writing, fun local stories, and analysis of the best postseason in sports. For Carter Williams, Sean Walker, and Josh Furlong, I'm Andy Larsen signing out. See you Saturday!

Thursday, 09:32pm

Arizona defeats North Dakota, 100-82

To the great joy of some of the Arizona fans here, chanting for free tacos, Arizona reached 100 points by the end of the game to secure a 100-82 win over North Dakota. Note: fans do not actually get free tacos at Vivint Arena when teams reach 100 points. Lauri Markkanen and Rawle Alkins led the Wildcats with 20 points each, and Allonzo Trier added in 18. Quinton Hooker led the Fighting Hawks with 25 points, and Drick Bernstine added 20. That means the Wildcats will play St. Mary's on Saturday here in SLC, at a time to be determined. That should be a great matchup.

Thursday, 10:22pm

Keeping pace with UND

North Dakota likes to try to speed teams up with a press and quick shooting. The problem is that Arizona is so athletic, and they also can shoot quite well. That's meant an easy 53-37 lead for Arizona at halftime. That's in large part thanks to Lauri Markkanen, the Wildcats' 7-footer who shoots 43 percent from 3-point land this season. He doesn't have any long-distance shots tonight, but his mid-range game has been superb: he has 16 points on 6-8 shooting.

Thursday, 08:40pm

Arizona running away with it

Not much to update in this one: Arizona's kept this game well under control only bothered for a brief period when UND got within seven points in the half. Arizona is just so physical and athletic. That's shown in the free throw count: the Wildcats are 22-26 from the line. And UND has already had one player foul out and have four more with four fouls. That's not a recipe for game-winning defense. Arizona's up 94-74 with 3:47 left.

Thursday, 07:53pm

Arizona leading early

Arizona's leading 18-12 over North Dakota, thanks to an 11-2 run that got them back into the expected lead in the 2 seed vs. 15 seed matchup. North Dakota has two threes early, and so long as the Wildcats can do a good job on that part of defense, tis game should go roughly as expected from here out.

Thursday, 07:22pm

Saint Mary's wins as WCC sweeps its two games here today

After seeing its 17-point lead vanish by midway through the second half, No. 7 Saint Mary's weathered the storm and defeated No. 10 VCU 85-77 Thursday evening.The win gave the West Coast Conference a clean sweep of its two games today.Saint Mary's shot 56 percent from the field in the win and held the Rams to 45 percent and 15 percent from 3-point range. Jock Landale led the way with 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Gaels, who will play the winner between No. 2 Arizona and No. 15 North Dakota that tips off next.

Thursday, 07:02pm

VCU wins! — battle of the bands

VCU still trails on the court, but in a spirited battle of the bands, VCU dominated St. Mary's. You can never go wrong when bands rock out like they're at a Pantera concert when they're playing heavy brass instruments. OK, back to sports.

Thursday, 06:30pm

Here comes VCU

Things weren't going the Rams' way in the first half. However, they're now shooting 56 percent from the floor in this half and they've forced 14 St. Mary's turnovers (the Gaels averaged just 10.5 per game this season). Now VCU trails just 56-54 with 10:42 left in the game. Is this going to be like the USC-Providence game last night?

Thursday, 05:38pm

St. Mary's having little problems with VCU

After a close first half in the matchup between No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 16 South Dakota State and after a wild ending in the No. 8 Northwestern and No. 9 Vanderbilt game, it's weird to see a blowout but St. Mary's finds itself up 15 points at halftime, 46-31.The No. 7 Gaels shot a robust 64 percent from the floor in the opening half. They've moved the ball around well, with eight assists on 16 field goals made. Tanner Krebs leads the way with 12 points and four rebounds.The No. 10 Rams are shooting 41 percent from the floor but 0-4 from beyond the arc, and despite leading St. Mary's in fewer turnovers by two, have been outscored 12-9 in points off turnovers.VCU isn't completely out of this game, but the Rams will have no shot to win if St. Mary's continues to shoot the ball the way it has so far.

Thursday, 04:08pm

The cruelness of March

Northwestern held on to defeat Vanderbilt 68-66 in a nailbiter to move to the second round where it will face Gonzaga. However, all the talk postgame was centered around a foul late in the game when Vanderbilt's Matthew Davis-Fisher intentionally fouled Northwestern's Bryant McIntosh when Vanderbilt was up by 1 point. McIntosh went on to make the go-ahead free throws with 14 seconds left. "When he grabbed me I was kind of surprised. I had thought we were down one, instead of up one," McIntosh said. "So I was pushing the ball up the floor. And I thought maybe I made a mistake. And to see that we were down one and he fouled, I just had to put my mind on making the free throws at the end and then once I made them it was just about getting a stop."So why did Davis-Fisher make the foul? He said postgame he was confused and thought when Vanderbilt head coach Bryce Drew pointed at McIntosh that he meant to follow the Northwestern player but the coach wanted Davis-Fisher to guard him.

Davis-Fisher on late foul "I thought we were down 1. Coach pointed at him but he was telling me that was my matchup. I took it as foul."

— Brittany Copeland (@brittanydiehl) March 16, 2017

More from Davis-Fisher on his foul mistake "We love each other like brothers, they know I didn't do it on purpose" #marchmadness #vanderbilt

— Brittany Copeland (@brittanydiehl) March 16, 2017While many online seemed to jump at the player for making the mistake, his teammates said they had no chance at winning without his 22 points off the bench."He made a mistake at the end, yeah, I mean I'm not sure what happened. He's the type of person that he feels some blame for it," said Vanderbilt center Luke Kornet. "The second half, we had no chance if he didn't make some of the shots that he did."While Northwestern's run is the feel-good story of this tournament, Fisher-Davis's mistake is another a reminder of the heartbreak that also comes in March.

Thursday, 03:19pm

A twist in the tale?

Northwestern looked to have this game in the bag, with a 15-point lead early in the second half. But a 12-0 Vanderbilt run with four consecutive 3-point plays has gotten the Commodores back into the game. Northwestern fans are biting their nails now.

Thursday, 02:52pm

Northwestern's offense

Collegiate offenses are sometimes known for being too rote, restrictive, and sometimes just plain ineffective. But what I've seen from Northwestern's setup is really nice, almost pro-style: lots of screening action to create space and misdirection for open shooters and layups at the basket. It's working: Northwestern is shooting 56 percent at halftime. If they could just cut down the turnovers (eight so far), they'd have an even bigger lead over Vanderbilt, who has been messy so far.

Thursday, 02:07pm

Mark Few done with the No. 1 seed?

After a not-so-easy battle with No. 16 South Dakota State, Gonzaga head coach Mark Few already began lobbying to the NCAA committee to not be the No. 1 seed. "That 1-16 game, someone can have that from here on out. I've served my time. I'll go ahead and land somewhere else. I'll explain that to the committee next year," he said, with a chuckle. He said it's an example that the gap between top seeds and No. 16 seeds is slowly closing. "The extremes are scooting closer to the mean year in and year out," he added. "When you look at statistically all these things, one seed did this, it might have been back in the day. When you look at how close these games have been, and I watched it last year, the 1-16 game." Few described the Jackrabbits as a "confident, physical bunch."

Thursday, 01:57pm

Zach Collins impresses

Gonzaga freshman 7-foot center Zach Collins is on a lot of NBA boards, and this afternoon’s game was my first time seeing him play live. I have to say: for a freshman, I’m pretty impressed. He flashed his 3-point range, fought for rebounds, and made pretty solid defensive plays. Obviously, he’ll need to fill out a little bit, but he’ll definitely play in the NBA. Right now, he’s No. 11 in DraftExpress’s 2018 Mock Draft. He hasn't made a decision on whether he's coming out this year, but if he does, he'll be Gonzaga's first one-and-done in program history.

Thursday, 01:41pm

Gonzaga cruises to win over South Dakota State

Well, No. 1 seeds remain undefeated in the NCAA tournament as No. 1 Gonzaga rolls to a 66-46 win over No. 16 South Dakota State.It wasn't pretty. Gonzaga didn't lead until the final two minutes of the first half, but the Bulldogs didn't trail after that. The Zags shot 40 percent from the field and held the Jackrabbits to 31 percent from the floor. Gonzaga outrebounded SDSU 50-36, mostly controlling the boards in the second half with a 13-rebound edge in the second half there.Jordan Mathews led all scorers with 16 for Gonzaga. Three others finished with 10 each.Next up, No. 8 Northwestern vs. No. 9 Vanderbilt at 2:34 p.m.

Thursday, 01:32pm

Gonzaga just cruising along

As the Northwestern fans pile in, there's a certain urge from the crowd to just move it to the next game. Gonzaga isn't exactly pulling away from South Dakota State, but the Jackrabbits aren't gaining any ground either. Gonzaga leads 48-35 with 7:14 left in the game.SDSU is shooting just 25 percent from the floor in this half. Jordan Mathews is also now the game's leading scorer for Gonzaga at 13. Gonzaga is shooting 39 percent from the floor in this half.

Thursday, 01:19pm

Northwestern fans piling in

Northwestern fans are streaming into Vivint Smart Home Arena to see their team's first NCAA tournament bid ever. Included in the horde is Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey, watching from center court at about the fifth row. That, plus hordes of sports media that attended Northwestern thanks to their Medill School of Journalism, means that there's a lot of attention on Salt Lake City this afternoon. Update: Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfuss just walked down to her seats as well. Are we at Sundance?

Thursday, 12:46pm

Gonzaga pulling away

Nigel Williams-Goss with a running layup to give Gonzaga its first double-digit lead. After a Mike Daum basket, Jordan Mathews cans a 3 that leads to a timeout as SDSU's Michael Orris is down on the court. Gonzaga leads 40-28, shooting 67 percent from the field in the first four minutes of the second half.

Thursday, 12:26pm

It wasn't easy, but Gonzaga takes lead into half

No. 1 Gonzaga is struggling, but managed to take a lead into halftime against No. 16 South Dakota State, 26-22. That lead did not come until just under two minutes to play the half. It helped the Zags that the Jackrabbits closed the half shooting just 1-of-11 from the floor and the team has 8 turnovers to Gonzaga's 3. SDSU is shooting 33 percent from the floor. The Zags are shooting 31 percent. It's been ugly shooting for both sides. Worth noting that the majority of this crowd is nonpartisan (Gonzaga has about double the SDSU fans for what that's worth), so they've jumped in cheering for the underdog Jackrabbits.

Thursday, 12:07pm

A tight battle

It's been back-and-forth here at the Vivint Arena, where the Jackrabbits currently lead 19-17 with 6:42 left in the half. SDSU is 8-18 from the floor and Gonzaga is 7-20. Jacks have 5 turnovers to the Zags' 3, but both teams have 5 points off of those turnovers. At times it's been hard to tell who the No. 1 or No. 16 seed is because they've played so even for the most part. If Daum starts heating up for the Jacks, Zags might be in trouble. However, the same can be said with a slew of Gonzaga players.

Thursday, 11:59am

Jackrabbits quick start

South Dakota State with an impressive start — leading 8-2 out of the break. A huge key was moving the ball around. The Jackrabbits were getting the offensive looks they thrive on. However, Gonzaga has tightened things up defensively and forced a pair of steals to close the gap, 8-6 at the first media timeout.