Another No. 1 seed goes down in the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
No. 4 Arkansas pulled off the 74-68 upset against top overall seed Gonzaga, making the Bulldogs the second No. 1 seed to get eliminated so far after No. 1 Baylor fell to No. 8 North Carolina in the second round.
The Razorbacks wasted no time setting the tone in the opening minutes. Arkansas’ defense ensured Gonzaga could not get into rhythm, leading to easy turnovers.
When Gonzaga’s offense began flowing, the Bulldogs opened a 27-19 lead with 6:28 remaining in the first half. However, Arkansas big man Jaylin Williams responded with a big 3-pointer to regain momentum.
Arkansas clawed back and senior guard JD Notae beat the first-half buzzer with a layup to take a 32-29 lead at halftime.
Arkansas turned up the physicality in the second half, which put pressure on Gonzaga’s star freshman Chet Holmgren. Holmgren had already accumulated two fouls by halftime, but it didn’t take long for that to become four. Still, Holmgren remained in the game.
After both teams exchanged baskets for a few minutes, Arkansas made it a 59-50 difference, the largest lead in the game. The Bulldogs went over five minutes without registering a basket.
Drew Timme got Gonzaga going with some free throws, but the game took a major turn when Holmgren fouled out with 3:29 left to play.
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Gonzaga trailed 68-65 with under 20 seconds remaining, but Arkansas closed it out with clutch free throws and timely defensive stops.
Notae led the Razorbacks with 21 points despite shooting 2-of-12 from 3-point range. Jaylin Williams and Trey Wade came up big on both ends of the floor, but their 3-point shooting made the difference. Williams made 2-of-5 shots from deep with Wade going 3-of-4. Both players had 15 points.
Timme led the Bulldogs with 25 points. Holmgren had 11 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks. In the end, Gonzaga’s 15 turnovers proved to be too costly.
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Gonzaga was the tournament’s top overall seed for a second straight year, but has once again fallen short of claiming the program’s first national championship. The Bulldogs lost to Baylor in the national title game last year, the second time Gonzaga has finished as the national runner-up.
Arkansas now advances to the Elite Eight for the second season in a row and will face the winner of No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Texas Tech.
