Sean Farnham describes the pride and support the community gives to the Gonzaga basketball program and how coach Mark Few has been able to prove the naysayers wrong. (1:35)

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The criticism dogged Gonzaga wherever it went, no matter how much it won.

The Zags run up their record by beating up on teams in a weak conference, then always seemed to come up short as the calendar went deep into March. Few outside of Spokane believed the program Mark Few helped build from scratch belonged in the national powerhouse conversation.

Overrated no more, Gonzaga is finally headed to the Final Four.

The Zags took the pressure of history head on with a performance worthy of their No. 1 seed, rolling to a dominating 83-59 win over Xavier in the West Region final on Saturday that should silence those critics.

"Just an incredible feeling of elation and satisfaction," Few said. "It's been a long, hard journey to get this program here."

Few and the Zags have won the West Coast Conference Tournament 16 times, been regulars in the NCAA Tournament since 1999, reached the Sweet 16 eight times.

The Final Four was the only missing piece to their resume.

The Zags (36-1) claimed their spot in Arizona and history with a superb all-around game, showing off their usual offensive efficiency while flexing the smothering type of defense that had previously been the chink in their armor.

Gonzaga made 12 of 24 shots from 3-point range after struggling the first three NCAA Tournament games. The Zags were No. 1 in defensive efficiency during the regular season and shut down the underdog and 11th-seeded Musketeers (24-14) to become the first WCC team to reach the Final Four in 60 years.

Nigel Williams-Goss scored 23 points while orchestrating Gonzaga's efficient offense after struggling against West Virginia. Johnathan Williams added 19 points and center Przemek Karnowski, who was still recovering from back surgery a year ago, created open perimeter looks with his deft passing out of the post.

Now the Zags are headed to the desert, where they'll play the winner between South Carolina and Florida in next week's Final Four.

"The Final Four doesn't validate or discredit a season. It's not an end-all, be-all," Williams said. "Gonzaga has been a great program and we're just happy to keep carrying the torch."

The Musketeers brought their turn-the-page jar of ashes to the NCAA Tournament, where they burned through a string of upsets to reach their third Elite Eight and first since 2008.

Their bid for the program's first Final Four ran into a buzz saw.

Xavier played well offensively early to hang with the Zags, giving super fan Bill Murray and the rest of their supporters a glimmer of hope. Once Gonzaga got rolling, the Musketeers had no answer.

"They're really good. Sometimes you just lose to a better team," Xavier coach Chris Mack said. "They've proven it all year long."

The Zags struggled to find an offensive rhythm against West Virginia in the regional semifinals- who doesn't? -- but had it flowing against Xavier.

After hitting 29 percent of its 3-point shots its first three NCAA games, Gonzaga found the range against Xavier, hitting 8 of 13 from the arc in the first half, mostly against the Musketeers' zone or on kick-outs from Karnowski .

Xavier had a good offensive start, only to hit a dry spell as Gonzaga stretched to lead to 49-39 by halftime.

Halftime did little to slow the Zags, who pushed the lead to 59-42 on 3-pointers by Williams-Goss and Jordan Mathews. Gonzaga kept the machine rolling in the second half, continuing to make shots while its defense prevented the Musketeers from making any kind of run.

"They were just locked in," said Xavier's Trevon Bluiett, who had 10 points. "They were a discipline type of team and we just didn't execute well enough."

BIG PICTURE

Xavier should have a good foundation next season from its Elite Eight, losing only senior guard Malcolm Bernard from its starting lineup.

Gonzaga played like a No. 1 seed and can erase all those overrated calls now that it is finally in the Final Four.

WEST IS WON

Gonzaga is the first WCC team since San Francisco in 1957 to reach the Final Four and first from the West since UCLA did it three straight years from 2006-08.

WILD SEQUENCE

The first half ended with a strange sequence that started with Gonzaga accidentally knocking the ball into its own basket while fighting for a rebound. RaShid Gaston was credited with the basket after the ball bounced off the floor and the backboard into the basket.

Williams-Goss then hit a floater in the lane and J.P. Macura followed with an 80-foot shot that banked in, but was ruled too late after an officials' review.

UP NEXT

Gonzaga faces the winner between South Carolina and Florida in the Final Four next Saturday.

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For more AP college basketball coverage: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-Top25</s>KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Oregon lost one of its best players to an injury just before the NCAA Tournament, had to survive two nail-biters to reach the Midwest Regional finals, and then faced a top-seeded Kansas team that had romped to the brink of the Final Four.

Of course, the Ducks would rise to the occasion.

With swagger and verve and downright prolific shooting, the plucky team that everybody wanted to count out rolled to a 74-60 victory over the Jayhawks on Saturday night, earning the Ducks their first trip to the national semifinals in nearly 80 years.

"You feel so good for so many people," said Ducks coach Dana Altman, who is headed to his first Final Four after 13 trips to the NCAA Tournament. "It's a team effort. You feel good for a lot of people."

Indeed, a whole lot of people had a hand in it.

Tyler Dorsey hit six 3s and poured in 27 points, Dillon Brooks added 17 and Jordan Bell finished with 11 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks in a virtuoso performance for the Ducks (33-5), who seized the lead with 16 minutes left in the first half and never trailed the rest of the way.

Now, they'll face the winner of Sunday's game between North Carolina and Kentucky in the Final Four in Glendale, Arizona. It will be their first trip since 1939, when the Tall Firs won it all.

Player of the year candidate Frank Mason III had 21 points in his final game for the Jayhawks (31-5), but the offensive fireworks and steady poise that had carried them to a 13th straight Big 12 title fizzled just 40 minutes from campus on a night where very little went right.

Star freshman Josh Jackson was mired in early foul trouble. Sharpshooting guard Devonte Graham never got on track. And the swagger the Jayhawks showed in humiliating Purdue in the Sweet 16 simply evaporated for a team that rolled to the Elite Eight by an average margin of 30 points.

"I'm disappointed for them more than I am for me," said Kansas coach Bill Self, who fell to 2-7 in Elite Eight game, including four defeats as a No. 1 seed. "But the one thing that happened today, and it's hard to admit, the best team did win today."

The Ducks knew everything was stacked against them, but the point was only driven home when their bus passed the Power and Light District in downtown Kansas City on the way to the arena. Thousands of fans in red and blue were rallying hours before the tipoff, turning it into a de facto road game.

But the torrid shooting of Brooks, Ennis and Dorsey quickly deflated the sold-out Sprint Center, and sent a warning shot to the Jayhawks that they were in for a fight.

"You've got to give them credit," Graham said. "They hit some big shots."

Foul trouble sent Jackson to the bench for much of the first half, allowing the Ducks carve to out a comfortable lead. Then Dorsey finished the half with back-to-back 3s, including a deep bank shot at the buzzer, as the Ducks pranced to their locker room relishing in a 44-33 advantage.

"When you play hard throughout the whole game," Brooks said, "you catch some breaks."

The Ducks kept dancing in the second half, beating the Jayhawks at their own game: Getting into transition, passing up good shots for better ones and knocking down 3-pointers.

The Ducks' lead swelled to 55-37 when Brooks drilled another shot from the perimeter, and frustration began to creep into the Kansas bench. It was only compounded every time Jackson or Graham tossed up a shot that clanked hollowly off the iron, the Jayhawks' sense of desperation slowly growing.

Jackson didn't score until midway through the second half, and said later he'd "never been in such a tough position." Graham was 0 for 7 from the field, missing all six of his 3s.

The Jayhawks eventually began to whittle into their deficit, doing most of the work at the free-throw line. But the Ducks kept answering just enough to keep the crowd from giving Kansas anything extra.

When Svi Mykhailiuk scored to make it 64-55, Ennis answered with a driving basket. When Mykhailiuk buried a 3 from the corner to make it 66-60 with 2:49 left, Dorsey answered at the other end with another 3-pointer as the shot-clock expired to give Oregon some breathing room.

A few minutes later, the Ducks were cutting down the nets to end a satisfying trip to Kansas City.

"The seven years we've been at Oregon, we've had great guys to work with," Altman said, "but I also feel good for all the other players, the ex-players, who have built Oregon basketball. Like we said, 1939 is a long drought, but we owe all the ex-players."

BILL'S BUMMING

The Jayhawks lost in the Elite Eight for the second straight year, while Self also lost for the seventh time as a No. 1 seed. That trails only Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and North Carolina's Roy Williams, who have nine losses apiece, for most in NCAA Tournament history.

BIG PICTURE

Oregon wound up shooting 51 percent from the field and hit 11 of 25 from beyond the arc, taking advantage of a porous defense that never matched the standard set by previous Kansas teams.

Kansas may look a whole lot different next season. Mason and big man Landen Lucas will graduate, and Jackson is likely to turn pro, though he said afterward he hasn't thought about it. Graham and Mykhailiuk may also consider declaring for the NBA draft.

UP NEXT

The Ducks are headed to the desert to play for a spot in the national championship.

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More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-Top25</s>San Jose, Calif. (CBS/AP) — Nigel Williams-Goss scored 23 points while orchestrating Gonzaga’s efficient offense, and the Zags finally shook their overrated tag by routing Xavier 83-59 on Saturday to reach the Final Four for the first time.

Gonzaga (36-1) has been dogged by criticism through the years despite winning consistently, in part for playing in a weak conference but also for never making the Final Four.

On the cusp of history, the Zags took it head on with a superb all-around game to give coach Mark Few the one missing piece of his resume.

Gonzaga found the range from the perimeter after struggling the first three NCAA games, making 12 of 24 from 3-point range. The defense, a soft spot in the past, shut down the underdog and 11th-seeded Musketeers (24-14) to win the West Region.

The Zags will face the winner between South Carolina and Florida in next week’s Final Four in Arizona.</s>Gonzaga players celebrate after beating Xavier, 83-59, to advance to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament on March 25.

Nigel Williams-Goss scored 23 points while orchestrating Gonzaga's efficient offense, and the Zags finally shook their overrated tag by routing Xavier, 83-59, on Saturday to reach the Final Four for the first time.

Gonzaga (36-1) has been dogged by criticism through the years despite winning consistently, in part for playing in a weak conference but also for never making the Final Four.

On the cusp of history, the Zags took it head on with a superb all-around game to give coach Mark Few the one missing piece of his resume.

Gonzaga found the range from the perimeter after struggling the first three NCAA games, making 12 of 24 from 3-point range. The defense, a soft spot in the past, shut down the underdog and 11th-seeded Musketeers (24-14) to win the West Region.

The Zags will face the winner between South Carolina and Florida in next week's Final Four in Arizona.

The Musketeers brought their turn-the-page jar of ashes to the NCAA Tournament, where they burned through a string of upsets to reach their third Elite Eight and first since 2008. They beat Maryland, Florida State and took down No. 2 Arizona in the regional semifinals, setting up a matchup of small Jesuit schools seeking their first Final Four.

The Final Four was the only thing missing on Few's resume, which includes 18 straight NCAA Tournaments, eight trips to the Sweet 16 and a third Elite Eight after surviving West Virginia's constant pressure in the regional semifinals.

The Zags struggled to find an offensive rhythm against the Mountaineers — who doesn't? — but had it flowing against Xavier.

Gonzaga came into the Elite Eight hitting 29 percent of its 3-point shots after making 37 percent during the season. The Zags found the range early against Xavier, hitting 8 of 13 from the arc in the first half, mostly against the Musketeers' zone or on kick-outs from center Przemek Karnowski.

Xavier got off to a good start offensively by working the ball around, but hit a dry spell and made 1 of 5 from 3-point range as Gonzaga stretched to lead to 49-39 by halftime.

Halftime did little to slow the Zags, who pushed the lead to 59-42 on 3-pointers by Williams-Goss and Jordan Mathews. Gonzaga kept the machine rolling in the second half, continuing to make shots while its defense prevented the Musketeers from making any kind of run.</s>SAN JOSE, Calif. (CBS/AP) — Nigel Williams-Goss scored 23 points while orchestrating Gonzaga’s efficient offense, and the Zags finally shook their overrated tag by routing Xavier 83-59 on Saturday to reach the Final Four for the first time.

Gonzaga (36-1) has been dogged by criticism through the years despite winning consistently, in part for playing in a weak conference but also for never making the Final Four.

On the cusp of history, the Zags took it head on with a superb all-around game to give coach Mark Few the one missing piece of his resume.

Gonzaga found the range from the perimeter after struggling the first three NCAA games, making 12 of 24 from 3-point range. The defense, a soft spot in the past, shut down the underdog and 11th-seeded Musketeers (24-14) to win the West Region.

The Zags will face the winner between South Carolina and Florida in next week’s Final Four in Arizona.

The Musketeers brought their turn-the-page jar of ashes to the NCAA Tournament, where they burned through a string of upsets to reach their third Elite Eight and first since 2008. They beat Maryland, Florida State and took down No. 2 Arizona in the regional semifinals, setting up a matchup of small Jesuit schools seeking their first Final Four.

The Final Four was the only thing missing on Few’s resume, which includes 18 straight NCAA Tournaments, eight trips to the Sweet 16 and a third Elite Eight after surviving West Virginia’s constant pressure in the regional semifinals.

The Zags struggled to find an offensive rhythm against the Mountaineers — who doesn’t? — but had it flowing against Xavier.

Gonzaga came into the Elite Eight hitting 29 percent of its 3-point shots after making 37 percent during the season. The Zags found the range early against Xavier, hitting 8 of 13 from the arc in the first half, mostly against the Musketeers’ zone or on kick-outs from center Przemek Karnowski.

Xavier got off to a good start offensively by working the ball around, but hit a dry spell and made 1 of 5 from 3-point range as Gonzaga stretched to lead to 49-39 by halftime.

Halftime did little to slow the Zags, who pushed the lead to 59-42 on 3-pointers by Williams-Goss and Jordan Mathews. Gonzaga kept the machine rolling in the second half, continuing to make shots while its defense prevented the Musketeers from making any kind of run.

Xavier should have a good foundation next season from its Elite Eight, losing only senior guard Malcolm Bernard from its starting lineup.

Gonzaga played like a No. 1 seed and can erase all those overrated calls now that it is finally in the Final Four.

The first half ended with a strange sequence that started with Gonzaga accidentally knocking the ball into its own basket while fighting for a rebound. RaShid Gaston was credited with the basket after the ball bounced off the floor and the backboard into the basket.

Williams-Goss then hit a floater in the lane and Macura followed with an 80-foot shot that banked in, but was ruled too late after an officials’ review.

Gonzaga faces the winner between South Carolina and Florida in the Final Four.</s>The Latest on the NCAA Tournament (all times Eastern):

Nigel Williams-Goss scored 23 points and Johnathan Williams added 19 to send top-seeded Gonzaga to its first Final Four with an 83-59 victory over No. 11 seed Xavier in the West Regional final.

After 19 straight tournament trips, eight Sweet 16 appearances and a third Elite Eight, the Bulldogs (36-1) took the final step with a convincing victory against the overmatched Musketeers.

Gonzaga will play the winner of the game Sunday between South Carolina and Florida next week in the national semifinals.

Halftime did little to slow down Gonzaga’s shooting success.

Nigel Williams-Goss and Jordan Mathews each hit 3-pointers early in the second half to help the top-seeded Bulldogs build a 59-42 lead over No. 11 seed Xavier in the West Regional final.

Gonzaga has hit 10 of 16 3-pointers so far in the game to build the big lead

The Bulldogs are doing the rest on the defensive end where the Musketeers have missed 11 of their last 15 shots from the field.

The get-in-the-door price for tickets to see top-seeded Kansas play third-seeded Oregon for a spot in the Final Four was about $250 about 90 minutes before tipoff.

Folks trying to buy a seat can thank the location for that.

With the Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City about 40 minutes from the Jayhawks’ campus in Lawrence, tickets have been in high demand. Seats in the lower bowl were going for several times that much, according to those scalping tickets in the vicinity of the arena.

Nearby, the Power and Light District of restaurants and bars was packed with fans wearing red and blue colors, making it a veritable road game for the Ducks.

Xavier’s J.P. Macura gave the crowd at the West Regional final a collective gasp when his shot from three-quarters court banked in at the end of the first half of the Musketeers’ game against Gonzaga.

Macura ran off the court in celebration but a replay review determined the shot got off just after the buzzer and the officials waved it off. That sent Gonzaga into the half with a 49-39 lead.

The Bulldogs did most of their damage from deep by hitting eight 3-pointers and adding three more points when Jordan Mathews was fouled on a 3. Josh Perkins hit three from long range, Nigel Williams-Goss had two 3-pointers and three other players hit one.

Williams-Goss leads Gonzaga with 13 points and Johnathan Williams has 12.

Xavier fell behind with a 1-for-9 shooting stretch late in the half against Gonzaga’s tough defense. Trevon Bluiett leads the way with 10 points.

Members of the U.S. soccer team came onto the court at halftime of the West Regional final to be recognized, a day after their 6-0 win over Honduras in World Cup qualifying.

Clint Dempsey, who scored his second career hat trick, waved to fans along with Jozy Altidore, Jermaine Jones, DaMarcus Beasley and a handful of other players, some in shorts, some in sweats.

The U.S. team was scheduled to fly to Panama late Saturday night for Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier in Panama City.

Gonzaga center Przemek Karnowski has taken just one shot but is still making a big impact at the offensive end.

With Xavier sending a second and sometimes third defender at Karnowski almost every time he catches the ball in the post, the Bulldogs have gotten plenty of open looks from 3-point range.

Gonzaga has shot 6 of 11 on 3-pointers so far in the first half to take a 35-29 lead. Two of those 3-pointers came directly off passes from Karnowski.

It’s been a rough weekend so far for Gonzaga star guard Nigel Williams-Goss.

The West Coast Conference player of the year has made just 2 of 7 shots with no assists to start the West Regional final against Xavier. Williams-Goss shot 2 for 10 with five turnovers in the Sweet 16 win over West Virginia.

The Bulldogs have survived the struggles and lead 27-23, thanks a boost from two 3-pointers by Josh Perkins and another from Silas Melson.

Xavier is doing something no one has done all season against Gonzaga: run an efficient offense.

The Musketeers have made 8 of their first 16 shots with only one turnover early in the Elite Eight matchup against the top-seeded Bulldogs. Gonzaga still leads 22-19.

No opponent made half its shots in a game against Gonzaga all season, with San Francisco posting the top mark of 46.9 percent.

In the first three games of the tournament, Gonzaga allowed opponents to shoot just 33.2 percent.

Gonzaga is relying on the outside shot to start the West Regional final against Xavier.

The top-seeded Bulldogs have taken seven of their first eight shots from behind the 3-point line in the opening minutes. They made three of them, including two by Josh Perkins, to take an early 12-10 lead over the Musketeers.

Gonzaga made just four 3-pointers all game in the Sweet 16 win over West Virginia. The Bulldogs were shooting just 29 percent from 3-point range in the NCAA Tournament before today.

Xavier has done all its work closer to the basket, with all seven shots coming inside the arc and five of them at the rim.

With fan favorite Arizona eliminated in the Sweet 16, there are plenty of empty seats at tip off for the West Regional final between top-seeded Gonzaga and No. 11 seed Xavier.

The Wildcats had the biggest contingent on hand Thursday night but lost 73-71 to the Musketeers, leading to the big blocks of empty seats in the top level of SAP Center.

Either Xavier or Gonzaga is about to earn its first Final Four berth in school history.

Gonzaga and Xavier are both making their third appearances in regional finals Saturday, but neither school has ever advanced beyond that stage. They face off Saturday in the West Regional in San Jose, California.

Oregon is meanwhile seeking its first Final Four appearance since its 1939 national championship. Oregon faces Kansas in the Midwest Regional championship at Kansas City, Missouri.

In each of its previous two regional final appearances, Gonzaga lost to the eventual national champion (Connecticut in 1999, Duke in 2015). Xavier lost to Duke in a 2004 regional final and fell to UCLA in a 2008 regional championship.

Oregon lost to Oklahoma in a regional final last year.

For more AP college basketball coverage: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25</s>With 33.2 seconds left in Saturday’s game, Xavier cleared the bench. The result was decided. Gonzaga was going to the Final Four for the first time ever.

And the ensuing scene was . . . shall we say, notable. This was a big Zaggy deal. As you could tell by the way Gonzaga’s coach, Mark Few, hugged every man, woman and life form inside SAP Center following the final horn.
• NCAA West Regional final: No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 11 Xavier
• Watch: Bill Murray goes nuts over his son’s Sweet 16 victory in San Jose “I mean, he’s at a small Jesuit school,” said Xavier coach Chris Mack of Few. “And it’s in a league that gets one or two teams to the NCAA tournament. That’s why I took so long in the handshake line. He’s a friend of mine. I’m happy for him.”

All of us in the Pacific Time Zone should be happy for Few. Happy for his team, too. By winning the West Regional at SAP Center on Saturday in an 83-59 romp , the talented and tenacious Bulldogs became the first team from the West to reach the Final Four since 2008 when UCLA did it. Gonzaga is also the first team from the West Coast Conference to reach the Final Four since the University of San Francisco in 1957. That’s right. Sixty years ago.

You might also say the Zags are spearheading a grand 2017 revival of Left Coast basketball, as was proved later Saturday when Oregon defeated Kansas in the Midwest Regional title game. This marks the first time since 1998 (with Stanford and Utah) that the West has sent two teams to the Final Four in the same year.

After Oregon’s victory in Kansas City, Ducks guard Tyler Dorsey pointedly told reporters that too many people have been “sleeping on West Coast” basketball.

That’s not a problem in a certain European country, where basketball fans are staying awake every time Gonzaga plays. Poland is the home nation of 7-foot-1 Bulldogs center Przemek Karnowski, who controls the paint and facilitates the offense for point-producers Johnathan Williams and Nigel Williams-Goss. They’ve all got many followers back in Karnowski’s homeland who postpone their bedtimes to watch his team live on streaming television.

“Today’s game was at 11:10 p.m.,” Karnowski said. “I know a lot of people are watching. They know what the NCAA tournament is. They know what the Final Four is.”

“Polish dogs are served and pretty strong beer,” Few said. “They have a good time at 11 p.m. watching Gonzaga.”

So maybe we can annex Warsaw and Krakow as honorary West Coast cities for the next week.

It definitely does make for an interesting sports bar debate, the idea of West Coast basketball vs. the rest of the country. Once upon a time, during the reign of UCLA as college basketball overlord from 1967-76, the West was totally dominant. Then the region fell into a slump until 1998. Then the West slumped again, with basically just UCLA and Arizona carrying the Pacific Time Zone hoops banner with Gonzaga ascending. Now, you’d have to say the West is defnitely back. But is it by happenstance? Or by plan?

“I don’t know, I think it’s just cyclical,” Few said in pondering the trend. “We’ve certainly been good enough that time to get there and we just didn’t get it done. And these guys did.”

Then he nodded toward his players. Few has had the Zags close so many times before, with five previous trips to the Sweet Sixteen and one to the Elite Eight as recently two years ago. In reflection, Few spoke about how in certain years, a raft of players can leave college early for the NBA draft in other parts of the country but not in the west, and vice versa.

“So it’s luck and breaks and matchups and then just if it’s not your night,” Few said. “The cool thing about our guys, though, is that sometimes we’ve made it our night when it wasn’t.”

Saturday, it was. It definitely was. Let’s not minimize one iota the accomplishment of the Zags in this particular year. To reach the Final Four, they completed a virtual geographic sweep by vanquishing teams from the Summit League (South Dakota State), the Big Ten (Northwestern), the Big 12 (West Virginia) and the Big East (Xavier).

Of these, Saturday’s victory over the Musketeers was easily the most impressive. There were several pregame subplots afoot before tipoff. One was the close friendship of the two head coaches, as Mack mentioned. Another was the fact that Gonzaga and Xavier are private Catholic Jesuit universities with mult-level connections. Xavier’s president, Father Michael Graham, is even on the Gonzaga board of trustees.

But the basketball matchup was the most salient and riveting plot entering Saturday’s game. Gonzaga was the heavy favorite with just one loss on its resume. Xavier with its 13 defeats had been the scrappy underdog that had way overachieved as a No. 11 seed in the West–capped by Thursday night’s big upset of Arizona.

Against Gonzaga, however, the Musketeers never got traction. They threw Mack’s usual grab-bag (or mish mash, if you prefer) of zone defenses at the Bulldogs in hopes of slowing down their offense. Nope. Didn’t happen. As Mack noted, it’s a chore to get an inside-out game going against the Zags. When an opponent drives the lane against them, each of Gonzaga’s big men can protect the middle on his own, with no double-team help from perimeter defenders — which in this case meant that any driving Musketeer could kick out the ball to open teammates out on the three-point line because those teammates were being guarded, too. Xavier only scored 20 points in the second half.

“I don’t think we played our best,” said Xavier’s Mack. “But had we played our best, it still would have been a tough out. They’re really, really good. Sometimes you just lose to a better team. They’ve proven it all year long. They lost one game. They play an incredible schedule. Their record’s their record for a reason.”

Just as the West is best for a reason in 2017. There are good teams out here. The way the bracket shapes up, two of them could meet in the championship game a week from Monday. Don’t be stunned if it happens.
The first two places in the Final Four are decided. In the West Region in San Jose, California, Gonzaga defeats Xavier 83–59, advancing to the first Final Four in the program's history.