It’s an incredible second round matchup in the Midwest region of March Madness as two of the winningest college basketball programs of the past eight years face each other head to head for the first time ever. It’s Houston vs Gonzaga.
Both these teams are tied for the most wins in college basketball at 239 and are the top two in the sport for consecutive sweet 16 appearances. Eight seed Gonzaga has made it to the round of 16 nine straight times while number one seed Houston has made it for the past five seasons. One of these incredible streaks will come to an end on Saturday night.
Game information
Teams: #2 (1 seed) Houston (31-4) and #24 (8 seed) Gonzaga (26-8)
Tip-off: Approximately 7:40 pm CST
Watch: TNT
Listen: KPRC 950
Latest on Gonzaga basketball:
Gonzaga has 26 straight NCAA tournament appearances and 21 conference titles over the last 26 years. The program made the Final Four and ultimately advanced to the national championship in 2017 and 2021, but were not able to win it all.
“When you are playing Gonzaga, you are playing one of the elite programs in the history of this game,” Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson said. “They’re what every program aspires to be, have that consistency year to year.”
The Bulldogs finished second in the West Coast conference during the regular season, but won the WCC tournament with back to back wins, including the championship game over St Mary’s to secure the automatic bid. The Zags have been playing well recently, as they are on a five game win streak and have won 10 out of their last 11 games.
Most recently, Gonzaga came off an absolutely dominant first round win over no. 9 seed Georgia, 89-68. It was a blowout from start to finish as the Zags jumped out to a 27-3 start and advanced to their 16th straight round of 32 game.
Graduate guard Khalif Battle led the way with 24 points on 69% shooting, and added eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Braden Huff and senior guard Nolan Hickman tallied 18 points each in the win.
This season, senior forward Graham Ike leads the Bulldogs in scoring with 17 PPG as well as rebounding (7.4 RPG) and assists (2.9 APG). Senior point guard Ryan Nembhard with 10.6 PPG will be a key player for the Cougars to stop as an elite ball distributor.
“He’s a tremendous passer, and he’s definitely leading the team right now. I got a lot of respect for him,” graduate guard LJ Cryer said.
Legendary head coach Mark Few has been leading the Gonzaga basketball program since 1999 and has made this program a big name in the sport. Few has taken Gonzaga to 14 sweet 16’s and six elite eight’s as well.
“It shows they have a winning culture, just like we do,” junior guard Emanuel Sharp said. “They’re consistent with our effort throughout the years and teaching the young guys the culture and keeping that alive, and it looks like they do the same.”
Latest on Houston basketball:
The Cougars have rolled into the second round of the NCAA tournament for the seventh straight season after crushing 16 seed SIUE on Thursday 78-40. It was the fewest number of points given up by Houston all time in their NCAA tournament history. Junior point guard Milos Uzan had 16 points, followed by Cryer with 15. Graduate guard Mylik Wilson once again led the team in rebounding with nine.
Houston’s streak of making the sweet 16 since 2019 is on the line vs a strong Gonzaga team that is not your typical eight seed. Many feel Gonzaga was ranked too low and based on KenPom metrics, the Zags have the 8th overall team rating in the country.
The Bulldogs rank 7th in offensive rating and 26th in defensive rating, one of just 11 teams in the nation ranked in the top 30 in each offense and defense. While strength of schedule is a difference, UH will need to be at their best to keep their season alive.
While the Cougars earned their third straight one seed in March this season, the opponent in the second round might make the game feel like an elite eight matchup. Gonzaga is a strong offensive team that likes to move the ball quickly.
“We’re not the fastest team, so we’re going to have to slow them down on the defensive end and slow down their pace,” Uzan said.
While Gonzaga did dominate over Georgia, it was a very strong shooting night for them compared to a polar opposite for UGA. Gonzaga shot 60% from three (12/20) and 55% from the field compared to just 19% from beyond the arc for Georgia and 35% overall.
The guard play for Houston with Sharp, Cryer and Uzan and their scoring will be key for Houston to keep up, but it will come down to their defensive intensity and limiting the Bulldogs offensively that will allow them to win.
Graduate forward J’Wan Roberts has been dealing with a slight ankle sprain and while he played 20 minutes vs SIUE, it will be interesting to see what kind of impact he can have.
“I’m feeling pretty good. Got a lot of treatment at the hotel. I’m ready to go,” Roberts said.
Sampson has faced Few once during his time at Indiana and won the lone meeting. With a win, Houston looks to advance to their sixth straight Sweet 16 and end Gonzaga’s streak.
[…] to analytics, ranked 8th overall in KenPom, something that Sampson agrees with. This was one of the best second round matchups seen in recent NCAA tournament history, and lived up to the hype, but it was still too early in […]