Zach Norvell Jr. shoots Zags to late victory

March 16, 2018 1:27 AM

Alyssa Charlston,

Posted: March 16, 2018 1:27 AM

Updated: May 14, 2021 2:14 PM

by Alyssa Charlston

BOISE, Idaho — Zach Norvell Jr. plays with no doubt. After he went 3 of 12 from the floor in round one of the NCAA tournament against 13-seeded University of North Carolina Greensboro, he wasn’t afraid to take the big shot. The possession after Josh Perkins tied the game up with a jumper at 64 a piece, Norvell Jr. came back on the other end and drained a three-pointer from the right wing that gave Gonzaga a 67-64 advantage.

The bulldogs put together several defensive stops together to hold the Spartans at 64, and Norvell Jr. went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to make it a 68-64 win.

Corey Kispert: “I mean I don’t think people realize how hard it is to have the shooting night he had, and then to actually bang a dagger. I mean that’s, as a shooter, you always have to have that in the back of your mind, and I guess Snacks just doesn’t have that in the back of his mind.

Silas Melson: I mean that shot was, kind of reminded me of j-mat last year he just pulled it and take it I’m gonna make it. and he did, that takes a lot of confidence, takes a lot of heart, and he’s been doing that all year so it’s expected out of him.

Zach Norvell Jr: It’s great, you know what I mean, put my team ahead, but the biggest thought on my mind was to get the stop down there, because they make a three and tie ball game, you know we got more game to play.”

The Zags advance to round two in Boise and will play Ohio State on Saturday, the winners over South Dakota State.