Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs took the term 'survive and advance' to an extreme on Thursday, skating by No. 14 seed Kennesaw State, 73-64, to secure their 1
took the term 'survive and advance' to an extreme on Thursday, skating by No. 14 seed Kennesaw State, 73-64, to secure their 17th consecutive trip to the Round of 32., with Gonzaga shooting just 40% from the field and 3-18 from three, but once they started dominating on the glass and getting out in transition the Zags were able to pick up the victory - battling through a handful of questionable calls by the officials in the final few minutes.
The win secures a matchup not with No. 6 seed BYU, but rather the No. 11 Texas Longhorns, who had to beat NC State in a play-in game to even reach Thursday's matchup with the Cougars. Once there, the Longhorns led for over 39 minutes in aBelow are five things to know about this Texas team heading into Saturday's tilt:Sean Miller and Mark Few have not faced each other since 2022, but they have a rich history of epic battles dating back to 2009. Miller began his coaching career at his alma mater Xavier, but made his way to Arizona where he had a prolific - and controversial - tenure from 2009-2021. Few and the Zags went 4-3 against Miller while he was at Arizona, although they lost the one matchup in the NCAA Tournament - an 84-61 drubbing in 2014 when the Wildcats were a No. 1 seed. Miller then went back to Xavier from 2022-2025, and lined up against Gonzaga in the Phil Knight Invitational in 2022 - a game the Zags won 88-84. Miller is now in his first year at Texas in the SEC, and will square off against Few in his third different uniform on Saturday.Texas looked like an absolute lock to make the NCAA Tournament in mid February. On Feb. 17 the Longhorns were 17-9 overall and 8-5 in league play, with most projections slotting them in the 8-9 seed range, and as high as No. 7. But then Texas went cold, dropping four of their last five in league play to finish 9-9 overall and in tenth place in the SEC. That set up an early matchup with No. 15 seed Ole Miss in the conference tournament - a game most felt Texas needed to win to ensure a spot in the field of 68. Instead the Longhorns got beat yet again, and had to sweat it out on Selection Sunday. They ultimately secured one of the last spots in the dance, and now have a chance to move to the Sweet 16 after beating NC State and BYU in a three day span.Gonzaga's first two matchups in the NCAA Tournament are against two of the most prolific teams in the country at getting to the free throw line. The Longhorns average 26.2 FTA per game - seventh in the country - and make 19.5 on average, which ranks fifth. Big man Matas Vokietaitis is a foul merchant, averaging eight FTA per game, although he only shoots them at a 67.4% clip. But between him and star forward Dailyn Swain this team can punish you from the charity stripe, and will challenge Gonzaga's depth and discipline on defense.Miller was known as a strong international recruiter while at Arizona - a reputation that very much continued when Tommy Lloyd took over - and he has continued to build a roster with plenty of unique passports. This Texas team has players from Lithuania , Ivory Coast , Germany , and the United Kingdom as the influx of European talent coming over to the states to play college hoops continues.Dailyn Swain is not a name known by most college basketball fans, but he has quietly become one of the most well-rounded, versatile players in the sport. The 6'7 forward spent his first two seasons at Xavier developing under Miller, followed him to Texas, and rewarded him with a massive breakout season. Swain is averaging 17.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.7 steals in 32.5 minutes per game, while shooting 60.4% on twos, 34.4% from three, and 82.1% from the free throw line. He ranks ninth in the SEC in points, fourth in rebounds, sixth in steals, 16th in assists, and fourth in win shares. He's also an excellent defensive player, and will be a matchup challenge for Gonzaga on both ends of the floor.Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendationsAndy Patton is a diehard fan and alumnus of Gonzaga, graduating in 2013. He’s been the host of the Locked On Zags podcast covering Gonzaga basketball since 2021, and one of two co-hosts on the Locked On College Basketball podcast since 2022. In addition to covering college basketball, Andy has dabbled in sports writing and podcasting across nearly every major sport dating back to 2017. He was a beat writer covering the Seattle Seahawks from 2017–2021 for USA TODAY, where he also spent one year each covering the USC Trojans and Oregon Ducks, and had a stint as the lead writer for College Sports Wire. Andy has also written about the NBA, NHL, and MLB for various news outlets through TEGNA, including KREM in Spokane, CBS8 in San Diego, and KING 5 in Seattle. After stints in Spokane and Seattle, Andy is back in Oregon near his hometown with his wife, daughter, and dog.
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