NCAA Tournament Draw: No. 12 Gonzaga is 3 seed in West

The No. 12 Gonzaga Bulldogs will stay in the Pacific Northwest when they begin the NCAA Tournament this week.

The Zags are a No. 3 seed in the West Region and will open play Thursday at the Moda Center in Portland against the 14th-seeded Kennesaw State Owls.

It’s the 27th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament for Gonzaga, 26 of which have come with Mark Few as head coach, and 28th overall.

No. 12 Gonzaga tops Santa Clara 79-69, wins its final WCC Tournament

The Gonzaga women’s team, which also won the WCC Tournament, will find out its draw for the NCAA Tournament later Sunday. The UW Huskies are expected to be in the women’s NCAA Tournament, as well.

The Gonzaga men are 30-3, having suffered their first loss in their eighth game of the season, a 101-61 rout by Michigan in the Players Era Championship title game on Nov. 26. That was the end of a stretch of three games in three days for both teams. Michigan, which was ranked No. 3 in the latest AP poll, lost to No. 18 Purdue on Sunday in the Big Ten Tournament final to fall to 31-3.

Gonzaga also suffered losses during the WCC regular season at Portland (Feb. 4) and at Saint Mary’s (Feb. 28), but defeated Oregon State and Santa Clara last week to win its final WCC Tournament before joining the new-look Pac-12 next season. Santa Clara (10th seed in Midwest Region) and Saint Mary’s (No. 7 seed in South Region) made the cut to give the WCC a rare three teams in the tournament.

The Idaho Vandals, who won the Big Sky Tournament to punch their ticket to their first NCAA Tournament since 1990, are the No. 15 seed in the South Region and will meet second-seeded Houston in the first round Thursday in Oklahoma City. Houston, which is ranked No. 5 overall, is coached by Kelvin Sampson, who was the WSU Cougars coach from 1987-94. The WSU and Idaho campuses are a roughly 10-minute drive apart.

A closer look at the Zags’ draw

A few potential interesting matchups await Gonzaga in the West Region if it advances. The Zags’ former WCC rival BYU, led by projected No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick AJ Dybantsa, could be their opponent in the second round, while second-seeded Purdue could match up with the Bulldogs in the Sweet 16. And in the Elite Eight, there’s the possibility of a meeting against former longtime Zags assistant Tommy Lloyd, a Kelso native who is head coach of No. 2 Arizona.

Senior forward Graham Ike leads the Zags with 19.7 points and 8.2 rebounds a game. Fellow senior Tyon Grant-Foster chips in with 11.2 points and five rebounds on average, while freshmen guards Mario Saint-Supery (8.6 points, 3.6 assists, 1.4 steals) and Davis Fogle (8.4 points, three rebounds, 1.4 assists) have been sparkplugs for Gonzaga. Fogle hails from Anacortes, and the Zags also have Seattle Prep alum Braeden Smith (5.4 points, 3.8 assists), a junior who sees regular playing time at point guard.

The Zags have played the past two months without standout forward Braden Huff, who averaged 17.8 points and 5.6 rebounds before suffering a knee injury in early January. Few said last week that Huff has been “shooting some,” but CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein reported that Huff is doubtful to play in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament this week.

Kennesaw State (21-13) finished sixth in Conference USA regular season play but took down Western Kentucky, Sam Houston and Lousiana Tech to win the CUSA Tournament and its automatic bid in the NCAA tourney.

Guard R.J. Johnson leads the Owls with 14.5 points and four assists per game, while forward Frankquon Sherman averages 10.3 points and 8.4 rebounds, and forward Braedan Lue averages 11.1 points and 5.4 boards.

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