Nothing Doing for Gonzaga This Year

So much for that mammoth Gonzaga-Arizona second-round game.

Gonzaga is one and done after a 73-66 upset at the hands of Wyoming in the NCAA West Regional at the Pit.

For once, Dan Dickau didn’t come to the rescue, and all Gonzaga’s shooting stars fizzled.

Now the team that made the Sweet 16 the last three seasons is going home early after Wyoming used a ferocious defense and brilliant free-throw shooting down the stretch to upset the No. 6-ranked team in the nation--and the controversially sixth-seeded team in the West.

“The success this team’s had the last few years, people said, ‘Yeah, Gonzaga’s going to the Sweet 16,’” said Dickau, who scored 26 points but made only seven of 24 shots, four of 14 from three-point range. “But you’ve got to go play the basketball game. We played well, we just didn’t hit shots.

“You know, I still believe we’re one of the 10 best teams in the country, after seeing everything out there. We just didn’t hit shots today.”

Wyoming (22-8) will play Arizona in the second round Saturday.

Wyoming played from slightly behind most of the game, but went ahead, 61-60, on two free throws by Donta Richardson with 2:52 left.

The lead was 63-62 when Wyoming’s Uche Nsonwu-Amadi missed a shot inside--but a monster follow-up dunk by Josh Davis put the Cowboys ahead by three with 1:06 left, and Wyoming made its free throws down the stretch.

The Zags (29-4) shot only 31.4%--and made only 22% from three-point range, making eight of an astonishing 36 attempts. The Zags hadn’t shot less than 40% all season.

“We had a lot of baskets popcorn in and out on us,” Coach Mark Few said. “But we understand as good as anybody, it’s loser-out, do-or-die.”

Nsonwu-Amadi led Wyoming with 14 points.

Ohio State 69, Davidson 64--The Wildcats, seeded 13th, nearly pulled off a Davidson-beat-Goliath story, leading for most of the first half before losing a game that was in doubt until the final moments.

Fourth-seeded Ohio State (24-7) managed to avoid being upset in the first round for the second year in a row, mostly because of guard Brian Brown’s career-high 33 points.

Center Martin Ides--a Czech who is one of seven international players on Davidson’s roster--led Davidson (21-10) with 20 points.

Missouri 93, Miami 80--The Tigers knew it was never as good as the No. 2 ranking it once held during the season--and quickly proved it was never as bad as the No. 12 seeding it earned in the NCAA tournament.

The Tigers bolted to a 12-0 lead on their way to an upset of fifth-seeded Miami, holding off a mild charge when the Hurricanes got as close as five in the first half. Missouri started the second half with an 11-4 run to turn an eight-point lead into a blowout.

“You don’t want this thing to end,” said Missouri guard Clarence Gilbert, who led the Tigers with 20 points despite making only four of 16 shots. (He was 10 of 11 from the line.) “You want to play as long as you can.”

Missouri (22-11) held Miami (24-8) to 33.8% shooting.

Miami was led by forward Darius Rice, who scored 17 points but made only three of 15 shots, and by center Elton Tyler, who also scored 17.