Takeaways: Creighton, Gonzaga on to Sweet 16 as Denver puts on fun NCAA Tournament showcase
DENVER — The weekend ended with the best showcase of elite college basketball.
The sixth and final men's basketball NCAA Tournament game in Denver of the weekend was capped with a thriller between TCU and Gonzaga.
It was a fitting ending for the series of first- and second-round games at Ball Arena.
No. 6 Creighton beat No. 3 Baylor 85-76 and No. 3 Gonzaga beat No. 6 TCU 84-81 as those winners advanced to the Sweet 16.
Here are takeaways from those games and the weekend of basketball.
Gonzaga’s surge ability is overwhelming
The energy in the building was crackling with the knowledge that the wave hadn’t yet hit full force.
Gonzaga was already on an 8-0 run to take a lead, then Drew Timme hit a cross over then did a step-back to fire a 3-pointer.
Of course, it went in and Ball Arena exploded. Seconds later Julian Strawther threw down a breakaway dunk to cap a 13-0 run to give Gonzaga its largest lead (63-55) of the night.
Timme was 2-22 on 3-pointers on the season before that, but the mustached man with the huge college basketball following always arrives at the big time for Gonzaga. He finished with 28 points (12-21 shooting) and eight rebounds.
TCU did fight back and Mike Miles Jr. was electric (24 points), but that surge turned the game for the Zags to send Timme and Company into the Sweet 16.
Gonzaga was down as much as seven in the first round against Grand Canyon before a big surge to win comfortably. Sunday Gonzaga trailed by as many as 10 before the comeback.
A 2-14 3-point shooting first half turned into 6-11 second-half shooting from deep.
The game (especially the second half) was a shot-making clinic from both sides. Elite, entertaining college basketball.
Creighton beats you in many ways
Creighton was dominant the whole game in the upset (at least by seed line) of Baylor.
Creighton can win in so many ways, as evidenced by the difference in the first- and second-round victories.
In the first round against NC State it was lanky big man Ryan Kalkbrenner going for a career-high 31 points. Sunday it was guard Ryan Nembhard.
Nembhard hit eight of his 13 shots and scored a career-high 30 points.
Creighton made just three 3-pointers in the first round, but made 11 of them against Baylor, with five players hitting at least one.
Now the Bluejays face No. 15 Princeton in the Sweet 16. Princeton, obviously, can’t be overlooked after two big upsets but Creighton will be heavily favored to get to the Elite 8.
Great showcase by Denver
Denver and Colorado aren’t often top of mind when talking about top college basketball hotbeds, but it was a great show.
Ball Arena was sold out and loud for every session, with Creighton and Grand Canyon fans especially prominent in their noisemaking.
It just seemed like the crowd was thoroughly enjoying the March Madness experience, even fully engaging with cheers and oohs and ahhs for live look ins to other games on the big screen.
And, while Denver didn’t have any of the monumental upsets of the other regions, the games were good (with the TCU-Gonzaga finale the highlight) and there were exceptional individual performances.
Timme (Gonzaga), Miles (TCU), Kalkbrenner (Creighton), Nembhard (Creighton), Terquavion Smith (NC State) and LJ Cryor (Baylor) put on memorable high-scoring performances.
Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on Twitter and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: March Madness: Creighton, Gonzaga on to Sweet 16 in NCAA Tournament
