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Gonzaga Basketball: Keys to a Sweet 16 rematch with Florida State

By Brayley Crowe

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - MARCH 23: Brandon Clarke #15 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs dunks the ball aginst Mario Kegler #4 of the Baylor Bears in the second half of the Second Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament at Vivint Smart Home Arena on March 23, 2019 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - MARCH 23: Brandon Clarke #15 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs dunks the ball aginst Mario Kegler #4 of the Baylor Bears in the second half of the Second Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament at Vivint Smart Home Arena on March 23, 2019 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – MARCH 22: Mfiondu Kabengele #25 of the Florida State Seminoles celebrates late in the game against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the second half in the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament West Regional at Staples Center on March 22, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. The Florida State Seminoles defeated the Gonzaga Bulldogs 75-60. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – MARCH 22: Mfiondu Kabengele #25 of the Florida State Seminoles celebrates late in the game against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the second half in the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament West Regional at Staples Center on March 22, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. The Florida State Seminoles defeated the Gonzaga Bulldogs 75-60. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

Gonzaga Basketball is on to their fifth straight Sweet 16, extending their own longest active streak in the nation, after comfortably beating Baylor. But with a rematch of a 2018 West Regional semifinal with Florida St., Mark Few’s squad will have quite the battle to continue on to the Elite Eight.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs put on quite the show in their two wins in the opening weekend of the 2019 NCAA Tournament. On Thursday, the Zags squashed any doubts of being undeserving of the No. 1 seed in the West as they dismantled No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson 87-49, the largest margin of victory in the NCAA Tournament since 2017. Gonzaga Basketball then followed up its empathetic victory with a breeze of a win over No. 9 seed Baylor, 83-71.

Brandon Clarke led the Bulldogs in their victory over the upset-minded Bears, recording 36 points, eight rebounds and five blocks. Clarke joined Shaquille O’Neal and David Robinson as only the third player to record 35 or more points and five blocks in an NCAA Tournament game. Gonzaga was again extremely efficient in Saturday evening’s outing in Salt Lake City, shooting 54.4% from the field, topping their already No. 1 national percentage of 53.2%.

The Zags benefitted from another strong defensive performance as well, as they held Baylor to 41.7% from the field, 2.3% less than its season average of 44%. The Bears made just four of 21 three-point attempts on the heel of their season-high outing against Syracuse when they nailed 16 of 34 shots from deep. Gonzaga’s defense has continued to tighten throughout the season and dominated Baylor in the rebounding aspect of the game as they outrebounded the Bears 39 to 27, nearly 11 less than their average of 37.8 rpg.

Gonzaga will need its offense to be at its peak ability on Thursday when it battles Florida St. The Seminoles are a top-10 defensive team according to Kenpom and have held their two tournament opponents to an average of 65.5 ppg. While Florida St. is holding its opponents to a 45.5% success rate on two-point field goal attempts, the No. 22 mark in the land, Gonzaga is averaging 62.2% from two, the best mark in division one. With two of the strongest frontcourt teams in the land matching up in the opening Sweet 16 game, the Zags will need its dominant big men to be at their best.