SAN FRANCISCO — Gonzaga’s dream of winning a national championship will have to wait at least another year.
The top-seeded Zags, in their seventh straight trip to the Sweet 16, were sent home by an Arkansas team whose speed and aggression added up to a 74-68 victory at the Chase Center on Thursday evening.
The Zags (28-4) reached the national championship game in 2017 and again last year, only to be turned away. The Razorbacks (28-8) took the lead 3 minutes into the second half and never gave it back.
The loss is the second in a month in the Bay Area for the Zags, who fell, 67-57, at Saint Mary’s in the regular-season finale on Feb. 26.
The Hogs, who have advanced to the Elite Eight round for the second straight season under former Warriors coach Eric Musselman, will play in Saturday against the winner of the Duke-Texas Tech game.
Down nine points with less than 7 minutes left, Gonzaga got no closer three points the rest of the way.
Drew Timme scored 25 points for the Zags, but Andrew Nembhard, championed by coach Mark Few as the nation’s top point guard, made just one of his first nine shots before dropping in a running 3-pointer with 16.5 seconds left. Eight seconds later his driving layup try was smothered at the rim by Davonte Davis.
Freshman 7-footer Chet Holmgren, expected to be a top-3 pick in the NBA draft, had 11 points and 14 rebounds but often was a step slow on defense and fouled out with 3:29 to play.
Arkansas point guard JD Notae had 21 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals, but hoisted 29 shots and was 2 for 12 on 3-point tries. Jaylin Williams contributed 15 points and 12 rebounds and Trey Wade also scored 15.
The back-and-forth continued early in the second half but the Zags developed the first serious foul issue when Holmgren was whistled for his third with 15:56 left.
Few left him in the game and Holmgren avoided further trouble until bumping Au’Diese Toney, who converted a layup and free throw for a 52-46 Hogs’ lead with 8:36 left.
For the third straight game the Zags found themselves in a first-half battle, trailing 32-29. They were up just 35-33 against Georgia State before winning 93-72 and they trailed Memphis 41-31, ultimately winning, 82-78.
Neither the Hogs nor Zags shot well in a game played at a frantic pace. Arkansas made 38% of its shots in the half and was 2 for 12 from beyond the 3-point arc. Gonzaga converted just 35%, including 3 for 13 deep.
The Zags twice led by eight points, the last time after a fast-break layup by Rasir Bolton that made it 27-19 with 6:29 left in the half.
But Gonzaga went eight possessions without scoring, missing five straight shots — many of them from close range — and committing three of its nine first-half turnovers. That helped fueled a 9-0 Arkansas go-ahead burst that became a 13-2 run closing the half.
