It came to this: 15th-seeded Valparaiso stood as the Midwest’s last hope to reach the weekend at this West Coast regional site. But looming for the lone Indiana school in this year’s NCAA tournament was a virtual home team, No. 2 seed and in-state school Gonzaga playing at KeyArena.
Just for added steep climbing, Gonzaga entered with a 20-game winning streak. Its last loss was against Stanford on Dec. 20.
The winning streak continued, and the Midwest went dark. Gonzaga advanced to a Saturday date with Big Ten killer Nevada on the merit of a 76-49 rout.
Gonzaga took the lead for good at 13-12 with just more than 12 minutes left in first half. The Bulldogs flourished even as star guard Blake Stepp clanked 0-for-6 from the field in the first half, including five errant three-pointers.
Freshman Adam Morrison was an energizer for Gonzaga. He scored six points coming off the bench in the first 11 minutes and 10 for the game along with seven rebounds. Fellow freshman Sean Mallon added two more baskets in that span, showing why coach Mark Few doesn’t consider the Spokane school a steppingstone to other jobs. More than a few prognosticators have picked the Bulldogs to make the Final Four.
Valparaiso suffered through 29 percent shooting for the game.
“Our problem all year has been shooting the basketball,” Crusaders coach Homer Drew said. “It’s like osmosis. When you struggle shooting, it’s harder to play defense and rebound.”
Drew said this team has re-energized his commitment to coaching. He returned as chief Crusader this season when his son and successor, Scott, took on a major rebuilding job at Baylor. “We had our three seniors [Joaquim Gomes, Roberto Nieves and Greg Tonagel] share some things in locker room after the game,” Drew said. “I’m hoping our nine freshmen and sophomores will hit the weight room to get stronger . . . and spend the hours necessary to become better shooters.”
