PORTLAND — After a first half where the top-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs fell behind the No. 9 seed Memphis Tigers 41-31 Saturday in an NCAA tournament second-round matchup, leading scorer Drew Timme took it upon himself to set the tone for a second-half comeback.
First, Timme delivered a motivational message in the hallway before his team returned to the court, one he cleaned up in a postgame interview with CBS reporter Andy Katz and summarized as «I don't give a flying F what happens at the end of the game, whether we lose or win, we're not going out as no… soft guys.»
Then Timme followed up his words with production as Gonzaga rallied for an 82-78 win, advancing to the Sweet 16 for the seventh consecutive NCAA tournament — a streak that is one of the four longest in tournament history, joined by two from Duke under Mike Krzyzewski (nine and seven, respectively) and a record 13 consecutive Sweet 16s for North Carolina from 1981-99 with coach Dean Smith.
After Memphis opened the second half with a bucket to extend the lead to 12, Timme scored the game's next seven points. Overall, he scored 14 of the Zags' 16 points in a stretch where they cut the deficit down to two, making a 3-pointer and hitting from a variety of difficult angles.
«It seemed like he got every offensive rebound, every foul, every bucket for them consecutively,» said Tigers coach Penny Hardaway. «We've witnessed it from the TV a bunch, just watching him be that dominant, and to see it in person… he made some fantastic shots. Great defense and he still made them. That's why he is who he is.»
For his part, Timme would prefer not to need second-half heroics.
«I would like to stop doing that,» he said. «I would like to do a better job in the first half because
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