Arkansas Upset Gonzaga In The Sweet Sixteen As Chet Holmgren Fouled Out In Just 23 Minutes

The Sweet Sixteen tipped off on Thursday night in San Francisco with a stunning upset, as the No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga went down in a shocker to 4-seed Arkansas.

The Razorbacks dragged the Zags into the mud with them and Gonzaga simply could not establish a rhythm offensively, shooting 37.5 percent from the field and just 23.8 percent from three-point range, as their normally high powered offense went cold at the wrong time. One of the big stories of the game was star freshman Chet Holmgren’s foul trouble, as he picked up two quick fouls in the first half and went to the bench for the remainder of the half, only to return in the second and find himself on the wrong end of three whistles, ultimately fouling out after just 23 minutes on the floor, with 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Drew Timme tried to do his part, scoring 25 points to lead all scorers, but the Bulldogs couldn’t get anyone going from the perimeter as the normally rock solid Andrew Nembhard struggled mightily, going 2-of-12 from the field.

On the other side, Arkansas wasn’t exactly an offensive juggernaut, shooting 40.3 percent from the floor overall and 28 percent from three, but they got timely buckets from JD Notae (21 points), Trey Wade (15 points) and Jaylin Williams (15 points) to propel them to the Elite Eight.

Defensive rebounding was a struggle down the stretch for the Zags with Holmgren out, as Arkansas got some big time second chance looks — headlined by Williams’ three off a Notae scramble board — down the stretch and were able to bleed out some clock. Still, Gonzaga had some chances, trailing by four with under a minute to go, but a missed contested layup by Timme allowed Arkansas to push the lead back out to six with under 30 seconds to go.

The Zags would finally get a three to fall on a running, one-footed prayer by Nembhard to pull within three, creating at least a bit of drama late.

The Hogs iced the game at the stripe, though, and put the cherry on top with a vicious block on Gonzaga’s last gasp effort, sending the Zags packing and punching their ticket to the Elite Eight in what ultimately became a 74-68 win.

The Zags bowing out further opened up the bracket as there are now just two 1-seeds left with Baylor and now Gonzaga out of the tournament. For Arkansas, they will await the winner of Texas Tech-Duke in the Elite Eight, as that game follows this stunner in San Francisco.

Source: https://uproxx.com/dimemag/arkansas-upsets-gonzaga-sweet-sixteen-video-highlights-notae-holmgren-fouls/