Gonzaga advanced past the Round of 32 for the ninth straight time, using a dominant second half to beat Kansas 89-68. The 89-68 hoop aria made them glow from the NCAA men’s basketball tournament bracket on their way to the Midwest Region semifinal in Detroit. It placed them on familiar ground after a season in which they had become disintegrated. It meant they gifted their coach, Mark Few, a ninth consecutive berth in the Sweet 16, an accomplishment up in the clouds for an event rich in chaos.
This was the first meeting between Gonzaga and Kansas in tournament history, and the first half lived up to the hype. No lead was above six points in the first half, but Gonzaga blew the doors open in the second.
After the Jayhawks took a 47-43 lead early in the second half, Gonzaga answered with one of the most dominant runs you’ll see.
Over a nearly 13-minute span, Gonzaga outscored Kansas 37-6 to go up a game-high 27 points, all but icing the contest. In that span, the Zags shot 14-for-17 from the field, while Kansas made just four of 23 attempts.
Kansas was knocked out in the second round for the second straight year after winning it all in 2022. The Jayhawks went from scoring 44 in the first half to just 24 in the second.
