‘Hogs oust Zags; Houston tops Arizona
Published 12:55 am Friday, March 25, 2022
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — JD Notae scored 21 points despite missing 20 shots and fourth-seeded Arkansas made Gonzaga miserable on both ends of the floor, bouncing the top overall seed from the NCAA Tournament with a 74-68 win on Thursday night.
Notae finished with six rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocked shots for coach Eric Musselman’s scrappy, hustling Razorbacks (28-8), who reached the Elite Eight for the second straight year and will face Duke in the West Region final on Saturday.
Drew Timme scored 25 points but couldn’t rally the Bulldogs (28-4), who for the second straight season were favored to win that elusive national title but were eliminated by a more physical foe.
Coach Mark Few’s squad was undefeated last year before falling to Baylor in the national title game.
Arkansas continually challenged 7-foot Gonzaga freshman Chet Holmgren in the paint, and the skinny NBA prospect fouled out with 3:29 remaining after some questionable calls went against him.
Holmgren finished with 11 points, all in the second half, and 14 rebounds in what may be his final college game.
Notae shot 9 of 29 overall and 2 of 12 from 3-point range but was still the catalyst for the Razorbacks. The senior guard’s 3 with 6:38 left made it 59-50, and Arkansas held on from there.
HOUSTON 72
ARIZONA 60
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Jamal Shead scored a career-high 21 points and Houston beat top-seeded Arizona to move within one win of a second straight Final Four.
With Taze Moore getting into early foul trouble after his 3-pointer for a 5-0 lead in the first two minutes, Shead and Kyler Edwards were both on the court nearly the entire game for the fifth-seeded Cougars (32-5).
Edwards, the Texas Tech transfer who played in the 2019 national championship game for the Red Raiders, had 19 points with five 3-pointers.
Houston plays second-seeded Villanova in the South Region final on Saturday in San Antonio, which is about 200 miles from the UH campus.
Terry had 17 points for the Wildcats (33-4), while Pac-12 player of the year Bennedict Mathurin had 15 and Christian Koloko 10.