NCAA Tournament bracketology: Gonzaga moves into 'Last Four In' after win at Loyola Marymount
The Gonzaga Bulldogs' chances of an at-large bid into the 2024 NCAA Tournament are trending in the right direction after their road win at Loyola Marymount.
Before tipoff at Gersten Pavilion on Thursday, Gonzaga (19-6, 9-2 WCC) was projected as the last team to make the 68-team field in the ESPN Bracketology update from Joe Lunardi, who moved the Bulldogs into the "Last Four In" group after Richmond lost at home to UMass. Lunardi noted in his update that Gonzaga needed to win at LMU to hold its position in the field, which happened to be the case after a 91-74 victory over the Lions.
The Bulldogs fended off quite the fight from LMU and Will Johnston, who scored 33 points and nailed seven 3-pointers to keep his team neck-and-neck throughout. But after the Lions made it a 72-71 game midway through the second half, Gonzaga amped up its defensive intensity and finished the game on a 19-3 run over the last 7:35. Graham Ike led the charge with 23 points, Nolan Hickman added 22 and the Bulldogs scored 23 points off 12 turnovers from the Lions.
Gonzaga's postseason hopes also got an indirect boost later on Thursday night from USC's 68-64 win over a Utah squad that's also on the bubble to make the NCAA Tournament. Ranked 105th in the NET, the Trojans are creeping up toward the top 100, qualifying them as a Quad 2 win for the Bulldogs instead of a Quad 3 win.
Along with Utah's fifth loss in its last six games, Lunardi's other two teams in the "Last Four In" group — Nevada and Ole Miss — are currently trending in the wrong direction. The Wolfpack had a three-game win streak snapped in an 83-82 Quad 1 loss at home to New Mexico, while the Rebels have lost three in a row after a 75-63 letdown at No. 22 Kentucky on Saturday. Both have ample opportunities to right the ship as Nevada will be at UNLV (90th in the NET) and Ole Miss will host Missouri (153rd) on Saturday.
CBS will televise the NCAA March Madness men's bracket preview on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. PST/12:30 p.m. EST as the Selection Committee reveals its current top 16 seeds.
