Gonzaga, Timme Make Sweet 16 With 84-81 Win Over TCU

(CTN News) – To help Gonzaga over the hump and back into the Sweet 16, Drew Timme drained a 3-pointer.

He helped Gonzaga make their eighth consecutive Sweet 16 by scoring 28 points Sunday to beat TCU 84-81 to extend his one-of-a-kind college career.

In just under nine minutes left, Timme hit his first three since December, part of a 13-1 run that helped the third-seeded Zags (30-5) take a seven-point lead.

“It was huge,” Timme said of the margin before he made his shot. There’s one up there I just launched. All you have to do is smile and laugh.”

When TCU got within three late, Timme made a twisting shot in the lane with a defender all over him, triggering a 4-0 mini-run.

It’s off to Las Vegas for the West Region semifinals and a meeting with UCLA on Thursday for the 6-foot-10 senior. This is a rematch of the teams’ Final Four game two years ago, when Jalen Suggs hit a buzzer-beater from half court.

It was the first time in program history that sixth-seeded Horned Frogs (22-13) had to win two games in the same tournament.

As they shook hands after the game, Gonzaga coach Mark Few pulled Miles aside briefly.

He’s coached lots of NBA players, including me. “Thanks.”

Damion Baugh finished with 15 points for TCU, including a buzzer-beater 3 at the buzzer.

Though for 30-plus minutes, the Frogs looked like one of the Gonzaga 16 best teams in the country. All their big guys came after Timme, trying to stop him in waves.

Despite the big man’s 12 baskets and eight rebounds, TCU’s big men were in foul trouble by game’s end. One of the two Horned Frogs who fouled out was JaKobe Coles, who hit the last-second runner that got TCU the win.

We had to make some adjustments pretty early in the first half, play a lot of different lineups, probably even deeper than we thought,” TCU’s Jamie Dixon said.

By halftime, TCU led by 10 points.

During Gonzaga’s first big run, Rasir Bolton (17 points) led the charge. In the first half, he scored two 3-pointers and Julian Strawther added another to give the Bulldogs a 46-45 lead.

Strawther will return home for his team’s next game. As the only player with nine NCAA Tournament games of 20 or more points, Timme joins Bill Bradley, Elvin Hayes, and Danny Manning on this list.

According to Few, Few will go down as one of the all-time great college players. The three-pointer was still not supposed to be taken. The thing that makes him great is that he does what he does well. Every once in a while, he does something like that.”

THE TIME ON SOCIAL MEDIA

“Some nice things on the internet before” the game took shots at Timme and Gonzaga, he said. You can add lighter fluid to the fire if you like,” he said. “I thought TCU was a highly educated school, but their pregame remarks weren’t so smart. …”

SEE ALSO:

IN NEW YORK CITY, KANSAS STATE HEADS FOR ANOTHER BASKETBALL SEASON FUNERAL