NCAA Tournament: Gonzaga No. 1 seed in West, UW Huskies No. 9 in Midwest

After a seven-year absence, the UW Huskies have returned to the NCAA Tournament.

And for the third time in school history, the Gonzaga Bulldogs are a No. 1 seed in the bracket.

The Huskies are the No. 9 seed in the Midwest Region of the 68-team field and will take on eighth-seeded Utah State on Friday in Columbus, Ohio. The Zags, who were the top-ranked team to start last week but dropped to the fourth and final No. 1 seed in the tournament due to a loss to Saint Mary’s in the WCC Tournament championship game, will play Friday in Salt Lake City against the winner of a First Four game between Fairleigh Dickinson and Prairie View A&M.

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Washington-Utah State

While Washington dominated the Pac-12 over half of conference play, it was a struggle for the much of the last month. A Feb. 9 loss to Arizona State on the road was the first league defeat for Washington, which was still able to lock up the regular season conference title despite subsequent losses to Cal and Oregon. The Huskies came within a win of the Pac-12 Tournament championship – and the automatic NCAA Tournament berth that comes with it – but lost a second straight time to Oregon on Saturday night, 68-48.

Utah State won the Mountain West Tournament as the conference’s No. 2 seed, winning three games in three days for the title. Led by 6-foot-5 junior guard Sam Merrill (21.2 points per game, 4.2 assists per game, 1.1 steals per game), the Aggies knocked off No. 12 Nevada during conference play and beat fellow NCAA Tournament team Saint Mary’s early in the season.

Gonzaga vs Fairleigh Dickinson/Prairie View A&M

The Zags are in the NCAA Tournament for the 21st consecutive season and 22nd time overall, and they may have their best team yet – and that includes the squad that lost to North Carolina in the championship game two seasons ago. Led by the forward duo of Rui Hachimura and Brandon Clarke and the backcourt tandem of Josh Perkins and Zach Norvell Jr., Gonzaga gets a boost with the presence of a healthy Killian Tillie, a 6-10 junior out of France who missed most of the season with foot injuries but returned for the WCC Tournament.

Fairleigh Dickinson (20-13) out of the Northeast Conference and Prairie View A&M (22-12) out of the Southwestern Athletic Conference will play in Dayton, Ohio on Wednesday to decide who gets to meet Gonzaga in the Round of 64.

AT A GLANCE

UW Huskies

Records: 26-8 overall, 15-3 Pac-12 Conference
Last game: Lost 68-48 to Oregon in Pac-12 Tournament final
Key non-conference wins: Western Kentucky (73-55), UC Santa Barbara (67-63)
Key non-conference losses: Gonzaga (81-79), Minnesota (68-66)

Top players

G Jaylen Nowell: 16.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.3 spg
G Mattise Thybulle: 9.3 ppg, 3.4 spg, 2.3 bpg, 3.1 rpg, 2.1 apg
F Noah Dickerson: 12.2 ppg, 7.4 rpg
G David Crisp: 12.4 ppg, 2.8 apg, 2.2 rpg, 1.0 spg

Gonzaga Bulldogs

Records: 30-3 overall, 16-0 West Coast Conference
Last game: Lost 60-47 to Saint Mary's in WCC Tournament final
Key non-conference wins: Duke (89-87), Washington (81-79)
Key non-conference losses: Tennessee (76-73), North Carolina (103-90)
AP ranking: No. 1 (March 11, before loss to Saint Mary's)

Top players

F Rui Hachimura: 20.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg
F Brandon Clarke: 16.5 ppg, 8.4 rpg
G Josh Perkins: 11 ppg, 6.5 apg, 1.4 spg
G Zach Norvell Jr.: 15.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3 apg

Cox Media Group