WICHITA, Kan. — Midway through the first half, Georgia briefly turned the momentum of a first-round NCAA tournament game against Gonzaga.
Dakota Leffew knocked down a three-pointer and converted inside on the next trip down, Silas Demary Jr. went to the line for a pair of free throws and Georgia finally stopped the bleeding at the other end, coming up with defensive stops on four straight possessions.
It amounted to a 7-0 scoring run … that cut Gonzaga’s lead to 18 points.
It required all of five minutes to determine who the superior Bulldogs were at Intrust Bank Arena. Gonzaga scored 27 of the first 30 points, established a 25-point lead in the first half and steamrollered its SEC opponent for an 89-68 victory.
It gave the eighth-seeded Zags their 16th consecutive first-round NCAA tournament victory and set up a Round of 32 matchup with top-seeded Houston on Saturday. The Cougars cruised to a 78-40 victory over SIU Edwardsville in their NCAA opener on Thursday afternoon.
Gonzaga built a big lead early with three-point shooting and defensive prowess, keeping Georgia scoreless for the first 4 minutes, 10 seconds. The SEC Bulldogs were trailing 13-0 when they finally got on the board with an Asa Newell jumper. Georgia’s next basket, a layup from Demary Jr., didn’t arrive for another 4 minutes, 34 seconds, and only trimmed GU’s lead to 22 points.
Nine days after making 1 of 15 from the three-point line against Saint Mary’s in the West Coast Conference title game, Gonzaga changed its fortunes in a big way, connecting on 12 of 20 and falling just two threes short of the program NCAA tournament record set against Norfolk State.
The Zags had four double-digit scorers, led by 24 points from Khalif Battle, who finished 9 of 13 from the field, 4 of 7 from the three-point line and had a season-high eight rebounds in his NCAA tournament debut.
Guard Nolan Hickman scored 18 points and made 5 of 6 from the three-point line, falling one triple short of his career-high, while Braden Huff finished with 18 points and posted a plus-18 in his third career start. Graham Ike added 13 points for the Zags.
