HOUSTON -- Arguably the best team in Gonzaga Bulldogs coach Mark Few's tenure is now in position to do something no other team in program history has done: advance to the Final Four.
The Bulldogs dispatched the UCLA Bruins 74-62 on Friday in the NCAA tournament South Regional and now await the winner of the Duke Blue Devils-Utah Utes matchup.
Here are five observations from the Zags' win:
NRG Stadium is still far from a shooter's paradise. Much of the first half played like a flashback to the Connecticut Huskies' win over the Butler Bulldogs in the 2011 national title game. The Huskies made just 1 of 11 3-pointers, the Bulldogs 9 of 33 (and were even worse in 2-point territory, going 3-of-31) and finished shooting 18 percent from the field.
The court was a different configuration -- attendance being much different for a regional than a Final Four, but the results were about the same when it came to shooting jumpers.
Gonzaga entered the game shooting 41 percent from 3-point range. For UCLA, that mark was 37 percent. Needless to say, neither team came close to reaching its average. The Zags went 3-for-19 and the Bruins 3-for-13.
Knowing the going was tough outside, Gongaza pounded the ball inside to Przemek Karnowski, and the Bruins had no answer. Karnowski used his 7-foot-1, 288-pound frame to make the 6-foot-9, 260-pound Tony Parker and 7-foot, 245-pound freshman Thomas Welsh look small by comparison.
It didn't matter who was on him. Karnowski wielded his weight around the basket, scoring eight of the Zags' first 14 points after halftime to help establish a double-digit lead that they maintained.
The first time the Bruins double-teamed him in the second half, Karnowski whipped a behind-the-back pass to Domantas Sabonis for a basket. Karnowski finished with a team-high 18 points.
UCLA's Bryce Alford scored 27 against the SMU Mustangs and 22 against the UAB Blazers in the opening rounds of the tournament. But given the aforementioned shooting problems everyone had in the stadium, he was rendered ineffective against the Bulldogs. It certainly didn't help him get into a shooting rhythm after he picked up two fouls midway through the first half and had to sit.
Alford was 1 for his first 8 before the Bruins started taking desperation 3s and he made two -- even banking one home. Alford finished with eight points on 3-of-11 shooting.
The Bruins aren't deep enough to withstand an outing like that from their second leading scorer, who had averaged 15.6 points per game.
The Bruins talked about taking Gonzaga leading scorer Kyle Wiltjer out of the game after he torched them for 24 points during their regular-season meeting, and they effectively achieved that goal. Wiltjer scored just eight points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field, but he did grab 10 rebounds. Kevon Looney kept Wiltjer from getting many open looks, and even when he did, the stadium backdrop seemingly took care of the rest.
Gonzaga doesn't hurt itself. The Zags play like every player understands his role. They don't take many bad shots. They stay patient, doing so even when the game's tempo at one point got a bit hectic. And they definitely don't turn it over, as UCLA scored just four points on five Gonzaga turnovers.
