PORTLAND, Ore. — Before the start of the second half, Drew Timme gathered the Bulldogs at midcourt. The emotional leader yelled and repeatedly pointed up at the Moda Center scoreboard, which depicted Gonzaga’s 10-point deficit.
No doubt the star junior forward stressed the need for Gonzaga to play its best 20 minutes of basketball or else the NCAA tournament’s No. 1 overall seed was going to make an unexpected early exit from the Big Dance.
Message received.
With Timme scoring 21 of his game-high 25 points in the second half, Gonzaga recovered from their sloppy start, surged past No. 9 seed Memphis and held at the end on for a thrilling 82-78 victory on Saturday night.
The NCAA tournament second round used to be a place where the Zags would die and they were bounced five straight years (2010-14) in the Round of 32.
Now, the Bulldogs (28-3) are making their seventh straight trip to the Sweet 16 and headed to the West Region semifinals in San Francisco next week to face No. 4 Arkansas.
To advance, Gonzaga had put to rest the misnomer that it can’t win a big game against top-tier competition on the strength of its backcourt.
Timme had a monster performance in the second half, but the Bulldogs don’t survive and advance without exceptional outings from guards Andrew Nembhard, who had 23 points and five assists, and Rasir Bolton, who finished with 17 points.
Memphis, which led by 12 points early in the second half, received 14 points from DeAndre Williams, 13 from Tyler Harris and 10 from Lester Quinones.
The Tigers (22-11) didn’t buy into the David-versus-Goliath hype preceding their matchup against Gonzaga, which was an 11-point favorite.
“I wouldn’t give them an advantage over us,” Quinones said Friday. “I’m confident going into this game that we matchup with them well.”
Tigers guard Landers Nolley II added: “I feel like it’s a No. 1 seed versus a number 1 seed, looking at no individual player or no coach. I just feel like it’s going to be a good ballgame.”
That’s an understatement.
Gonzaga and Memphis staged an instant classic filled with high-level shot-making, a handful of highflying dunks and an array of crowd-pleasing sequences as both teams raced up and down the court.
Still, it was another wobbly first half from Gonzaga, which led No. 16 Georgia State 35-33 two days earlier in its NCAA tournament opener.
Timme and Chet Holmgren combined for 51 points in their previous game and received a lot of attention heading into Saturday night’s matchup.
However, the much-anticipated matchup between Holmgren and Memphis Jalen Duren — two NBA draft lottery prospects — never materialized.
Timme and Holmgren were quiet early and tallied just six points in the first half while Nembhard provided the early fireworks and scored 11 of the Bulldgogs first 20 points, including three 3-pointers.
The Zags led 22-17 when senior forward DeAndre Williams soared for a highlight dunk to spark a 22-8 Memphis run that included a crowd-pleasing slam from junior center Malcolm Dandridge.
The Tigers converted 7 of their final 12 field goals in the first half to take a 41-31 halftime lead. Meanwhile, Gonzaga made 2 of its final 8 shots before the break.
It was just the fourth time this season the Bulldogs trailed at intermission and they lost the previous three games.
This time, Timme would not let the Zags falter.
He scored 11 points early in the second half to help Gonzaga cut its deficit to 49-47. And Timme gave GU its first lead at 58-57 with a putback layup at the 10:16 mark.
The Bulldogs never trailed again and went up by seven points (76-69) with 2:19 left.
Memphis countered and made it a one-possession game in the final minute before Nembhard secured the win with a pair of free throws to go up by four points in the final four seconds.
Before Saturday, Gonzaga was 3-6 all-time against Memphis. The teams last met eight years ago and their nonconference series was discontinued in 2014 due to scheduling difficulties, Few said.
