PORTLAND, Ore. — Drew Timme scored 21 of his 25 factors within the second half, and prime general seed Gonzaga rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat No. 9 seed Memphis 82-78 on Saturday night time within the second spherical of the NCAA Event.
Trailing on the half for less than the fourth time this season, Gonzaga leaned on its star junior to hold the Zags into its seventh straight Candy 16. The Bulldogs will face No. 4 seed Arkansas within the West Area semifinals on Thursday in San Francisco.
Andrew Nembhard added 23 factors for the Bulldogs, Rasir Bolton scored 17 and Gonzaga by no means trailed after a basket from Timme and Bolton’s 3-pointer with 10 minutes remaining that made it 61-57.
However Memphis didn’t go away. The Tigers pulled even at 66 on DeAndre Williams’ basket. After Nembhard’s 3 put the Bulldogs up 76-69, the Tigers nonetheless made it a one-possession sport with 32 seconds left on Lester Quinones’ 3-pointer.
Nembhard, the one constant free-throw shooter for Gonzaga on the night time, made 4 on the foul line within the remaining 25 seconds and the Bulldogs (28-3) have been on their technique to the Candy 16.
Williams scored 14 factors for Memphis however sat an enormous chunk of the second half with foul hassle. Tyler Harris had 11 of his 14 factors within the first half and Quinones completed with 10.
The matchup between future NBA lottery picks Chet Holmgren of Gonzaga and Jalen Duren of Memphis by no means totally materialized due to foul hassle. Duren completed with seven factors and 7 rebounds however performed simply 19 minutes and sat for greater than 10 minutes of the second half after selecting up his fourth foul.
Holmgren had 9 factors, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks earlier than fouling out within the remaining seconds.
For some time, Memphis (22-11) appeared prepared and in a position to spoil what was basically a Gonzaga dwelling sport a 6-hour drive from its campus. Memphis dominated the latter phases of the primary half and constructed a 41-31 lead on the break as nervous vitality crammed Moda Heart.
Timme erupted to begin the second half, scoring the primary 11 factors for the Bulldogs and within the course of serving to land Duren and Williams in foul hassle. Timme knocked down a 3-pointer, hit a pair of robust jumpers and scored on a slick baseline reverse to erase an enormous chunk of Memphis’ halftime lead.
From there, he obtained assist from Bolton and Nembhard. The trio mixed for 42 of Gonzaga’s 51 factors within the second half.
