Duck Men Make It To Final Four

“Tears of joy”, Few said. Is this your best team?

What will the “Gonzaga is overrated” crowd say now?

So, would he go there now?

The Musketeers brought their turn-the-page jar of ashes to the NCAA Tournament, where they burned through a string of upsets to reach their third Elite Eight and first since 2008. Something I doubt anyone, myself included felt would be possible a month ago.

Few’s 2016-17 team has officially reached the summit that no team before it could scale. ESPN notes Gonzaga is also the first team from the West Coast Conference (WCC) to reach the Final Four in 60 years. The game is scheduled to begin at 6:09 p.m. EST and will air live on TBS from the SAP Center in San Jose, California.

Gonzaga is relying on the outside shot to start the West Regional final against Xavier. “The emotion of this moment is indescribable.” .

Playing with poise with the pressure of history weighing upon them, the Zags stormed past Xavier 83-59 to earn their first trip to the Final Four, next weekend in Arizona.

The top-seeded Bulldogs have taken seven of their first eight shots from behind the 3-point line in the opening minutes. It doesn’t matter how much talent you have upfront if you can’t spread the floor, take care of the ball, and run good offensive sets. “It’s hard to get where we are”. “They lost one game”. The rest of his team was 7-31, attempting just two treys in a narrow Sweet 16 victory over West Virginia.

Finally, the freshman center from Gonzaga’s basketball team turned, smiled and presented the historic keepsake.

“The Final Four doesn’t validate or discredit a season”. No amount of regular-season dominance could erase it.

Whoever wins this game will be the lowest-seeded team in the Final Four.

This Gonzaga team has none of those concerns.

“I’ve been there 28 years”, said Few, who has been head coach for the last 18 years after serving as an assistant.

But who would have thought that he’d play until this deep into his first year?

Williams-Goss scored 23 points and forward Johnathan Williams had 19 points and won the tournament MVP award.

BECB: Trevon Bluiett has been a volume scorer throughout the Tournament, scoring 20+ in each game so far.

Jordan Mathews and Josh Perkins scored 11 apiece. “They deserve all the credit in the world, they’re as connected as any team we’ve had that’s played together for four years”. Following a plane accident before the Big Ten Tournament, which they later won. “These guys are every bit as connected as them”.

“Nope”, he said. “I still hate the cold, but luckily we play inside”. Somebody was always open.

“We actually had a conversation as to whether I should redshirt this year, but I didn’t want to do that”.

Of course, the tournament did not end Saturday. SC game. That contest is set for Sunday afternoon.

Collins has been a road trip roommate of junior Nigel Williams-Goss, a Findlay Prep product whose leadership at point guard made all the difference in Gonzaga going to the Final Four with a 36-1 record. Then the West slumped again, with basically just UCLA and Arizona carrying the Pacific Time Zone hoops banner with Gonzaga ascending.