UConn trounces Gonzaga to advance to Final Four

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Saturday, March 25, 2023 | 10:10 p.m.

NCAA Tournament nets were cut down in Las Vegas for the first time on Saturday, and after 40 minutes of dominant basketball, UConn proved to be more than worthy of brandishing the scissors.

The No. 4 seed Huskies played elite two-way ball in defeating No. 3 Gonzaga, 82-54, to punch their ticket to the Final Four.

An 8-0 run spanning halftime allowed UConn to open a double-digit lead, and Dan Hurley’s squad never looked back, expanding the advantage to as much as 33 points in the second half before cruising to the finish line.

UConn is now 28-8 on the season and just two wins away from its fifth national championship.

“What a performance by the boys,” Hurley said. “To do what we did to a team of that caliber, a program of that caliber, obviously we were just playing at a super high level.”

UConn sophomore guard Jordan Hawkins scored a game-high 20 points, and junior forward Adama Sanago posted 10 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Hawkins was named the West Region’s Most Outstanding Player.

Hawkins, who is averaging 17.3 points on 51.6% 3-point shooting through four NCAA Tournament games, said this UConn team has arrived.

“It's something you dream of,” Hawkins said. “My emotions took all of me. And I just had to flex UConn. UConn is back.”

UConn advances to next weekend’s Final Four in Houston. It will be the program’s sixth Final Four appearance and the first under Hurley.

It was a bitter end to a sweet run for Gonzaga. Two days after Las Vegas hometown hero Julian Strawther hit the game-winning 3-pointer in the closing seconds to defeat UCLA in a March classic, UConn threw a bushel of wing defenders at him and gave him little space to operate. Strawther, a junior who played his prep ball at Liberty, was harassed into a 4-of-15 shooting night, finishing with 11 points.

A strong contingent of UConn fans stuck around after the buzzer to watch their team accept the West Region championship trophy and clip the nets at T-Mobile Arena. The Huskies have to be considered strong favorites to claim the national title after winning their first four tournament games by an average margin of 22.5 points.

Gonzaga came into the game with the nation’s No. 1 offense according to efficiency metrics, but UConn was up to the challenge. The Huskies smothered passing lanes, contested shots and ultimately held Gonzaga to 33.3% from the field, including an icy 2-of-20 from 3-point range.

Gonzaga forward Drew Timme picked up his fourth foul early in the second half and was a non-factor down the stretch, totaling just 12 points on 5-of-14 shooting.

Bulldogs coach Mark Few gave credit to UConn for playing a punishing all-around game.

“UConn was just terrific tonight,” Few said. “We didn't have any answers, especially when kind of everything really didn't bounce our way. And we can't absorb a game like that when our offense is as bad as it was tonight.”

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.