UNC Greensboro nearly pulled off the massive upset over last year’s national runner-up Gonzaga, but fell short in a 68-64 defeat.
The 13th-seeded Spartans battled back in the second half, and led 64-62 with under a minute left. Fourth-seeded Gonzaga’s Josh Perkins made a jumper to tie the game at 64 with 51 seconds left, and Zach Norvell buried the dagger into Greensboro’s heart following a three-pointer with 21 seconds left.
Greensboro had a shot to tie following two missed free throws by Rui Hachimura, but Marvin Smith’s three bounced out after coming painfully close.
The Spartans nearly had *another* chance after Norvell missed his first free throw, but he sank the second to make it a four point game with 11 seconds remaining.
It wasn’t a particularly good night for Gonzaga – they shot just 42.4% for the floor and went just 5/23 from beyond the arc and an atrocious 13/25 from the free throw line. But UNC Greensboro’s shooting wasn’t any better – they shot 41.8% from the floor, were just 3/22 from three, and shot 50% from the charity stripe. If they were able to shoot better, they would be advancing to the second round. If Gonzaga shot better, this game wouldn’t have been particularly close.
However, the battle-tested Zags prevailed, and will take on the winner of Ohio State vs South Dakota State on Saturday. With three games in the books on Thursday, all three favorites have advanced – but it was far tighter than expected for Gonzaga and Rhode Island, with Kansas also facing an unexpected struggle from 16th-seeded Penn.
