Gonzaga Has No Problem as Favorite

Gonzaga was trailing Indiana State by three points in the second half Sunday when Dan Dickau pulled up for a quick three-point shot that banged off the rim.

Mark Few, Gonzaga’s coach, had seen enough.

He immediately called timeout and yelled two words at his players: “Settle down!” All the fans in the Pyramid heard it--and so did the Bulldogs.

Casey Calvary scored 24 points and Dickau had 20--making all 12 of his free throws--as 12th-seeded Gonzaga beat No. 13 Indiana State, 85-68, at the South Regional to advance to a third consecutive regional semifinal.

The Bulldogs (26-6) will play top-seeded Michigan State in Atlanta on Friday.

Gonzaga had some trouble early against the Sycamores (22-12)--whose first-round defeat of Oklahoma was their first tournament win since Larry Bird led the team to the 1979 championship game.

After Marcus Howard’s three-point basket put Indiana State up 51-48 and Dickau missed his three-point shot with 11:32 remaining, Few called his players over and gave them a stern lecture.

“Every once and a while we have to tame these wild dogs. They run a little too fast,” Few said. “At that time we were beginning to take control of the game. We had some advantages that we needed to at least explore a little bit before we take too quick shots.”

Afterward, Calvary and freshman Kyle Bankhead each made three-point shots and Dickau’s basket on a smooth spinning move down the lane put the Bulldogs ahead, 56-51, with 9:17 remaining.

Matt Renn’s three-pointer for the Sycamores tied the game at 60-60, but Dickau followed with a pull-up jumper and two free throws to put Gonzaga ahead 64-60 with 7:23 left.

Zach Gourde scored 15 points, and Alex Hernandez added 12 for the Bulldogs, who beat second-seeded Stanford in 1999 and No. 2 St. John’s last year in the second round.

With Gonzaga’s continued NCAA tournament success, Few hopes the next time they qualify, the Bulldogs will get more respect.

“I was very disappointed with the seed they gave us. It was just a lack of knowing how good this team is and maybe how good our conference is,” Few said.