SLC NCAA Tourney weblog: Gonzaga, Arizona clinch spots in Candy 16

On a staff with 5 gamers scoring in double figures, Ryan Nembhard’s 5 factors could not bounce out within the field rating.

However Gonzaga’s 89-68 win over Kansas to advance to the Candy 16 for the ninth consecutive NCAA Event had Nembhard’s fingerprints throughout it.

The Creighton switch totaled 12 assists with simply 5 turnovers within the Zags’ win Saturday afternoon in entrance of an introduced crowd of 17,414 followers contained in the downtown Delta Middle — lots of them adorned in Gonzaga’s eponymous blue-and-red that reworked the Utah Jazz’s residence area into Spokane South for a day.

Nembhard handed Josh Perkins’ single-season help file of 235 dimes, a end result that elicited visceral reactions and guttural screams from his teammates when informed on the postgame podium.

“It is an honor, to begin with, to get that file. There’s so many nice (level guards) and gamers who went by this system,” Nembhard stated. “It is an honor to have that file. The coaches ready us very well. Gentry despatched me a whole lot of clips final evening of the low two-man, and we knew it could be right here late. You may have guys which are such good gamers like these guys up right here, it is simple. All you bought to do is get them the ball, they usually’ll put it within the hoop.”

Help Document Damaged💥👑🏀 pic.twitter.com/0RNbdxnFke

— Gonzaga Basketball (@ZagMBB) March 23, 2024

The Zags have been effervescent from the sector within the second half, overturning a 47-43 deficit early within the second half and remodeling it right into a lead that swelled as excessive as 27 en path to the 23-point victory.

Nembhard discovered his shooters — from Nolan Hickman (17) to Graham Ike (15) to Anton Watson, who led the Zags with 21 factors and 6 rebounds.

Ike and Nembhard introduced final April — on the exact same day — that they have been transferring to Gonzaga. That date — April 21, to be precise — now seems to be like the start of historical past for a Gonzaga program that leads the nation in lively consecutive Candy 16 appearances and ranks second all-time to North Carolina’s run of 13 straight from 1981-93.

“It was straightforward. No-brainer, coming right here with these guys,” stated Ike, who transferred from Wyoming. “The way in which these guys take pleasure in themselves on and off the court docket. Simply what we do, make nice runs like this throughout this time. It was tremendous straightforward listening to those guys, seeing how they do issues the Zag means, it was fairly nice.”

And now Nembhard owns a bit of the file e book, too.

𝐙𝐀𝐆𝐒 on 🔥🔥pic.twitter.com/vogRd8vzIy

— Gonzaga Basketball (@ZagMBB) March 23, 2024

— Sean Walker, KSL.com