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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher/Writer
The NCAA finally came to Las Vegas Thursday and gifted Sin City with another wild UCLA vs Gonzaga game, complete with a heart-pounding ending that resulted with the hometown kid nailing a 32-foot three-point shot to deliver a wild win for the Zags over the Bruins in the Sweet 16 matchup at T-Mobile Arena.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few acknowledged that Las Vegas product Julian Strawther had a tough game, but he had confidence that Strawther would nail the three-ball in the final seconds to give the Bulldogs from Spokane, Washington a 79-76 win over second-seeded UCLA.
Gonzaga’s Drew Timme dropped 36 points on UCLA on 16-for-24 shooting and said at the postgame presser that he’s the biggest Julian Strawther fan.
Timme, who noted he’s not at a loss of words often, could only utter, “One shining moment. That’s the best way to describe it”
UCLA played superbly in the first half, leading 46-33 after 20 minutes.
But then Gonzaga turned up the heat on defense in the second half, while UCLA hurt its cause with missing open shots as well. The Bruins went 11 minutes without a field goal and their guards did not score in the second half. Gonzaga, which trailed by 13 at the half, had a 10-point lead.
Then, the Zags endured a furious UCLA comeback that brought the Bruins a one-point lead with 12 seconds left.
In the final seconds, Gonzaga responded. Strawther, the hometown kid from Liberty High, launched his three ball to give the Zags the win and ticket to the Elite Eight.
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It was a historic day for Las Vegas’ sports industry today.
The Lords of College Sports, the NCAA, staged its most popular branded event — March Madness — in the friendly gambling outpost of Las Vegas.
The college basketball logo was applied to center court at T-Mobile Arena for the NCAA West Regional matchups of Connecticut vs Arkansas and UCLA vs Gonzaga Thursday.
It’s been four years since the NCAA scrubbed it’s policy of not staging title events in host cities that had legalized gambling.
Times being what they are now — 33 states have legalized gambling — the NCAA came around and figured it would be morally OK to have an event in Sin City.
And the fans came. Attendance was announced at 18,544.
In the first Sweet 16 game, UConn crushed Arkansas, 88-65. The fourth-seeded Connecticut Huskies will play third-seeded Gonzaga Saturday at 5:49PM for the right to travel to the Final Four.