Whicker: UCLA-Gonzaga rematch is a mismatch, thanks to Chet Holmgren

They tin lone anticipation this 1 stays successful Vegas.

UCLA brought each subsister from April 3, erstwhile the Bruins and Gonzaga combined to etch a imperishable assemblage hoops memory.

Gonzaga brought immoderate caller guys who had lone heard astir that 93-90 overtime triumph and however UCLA had parlayed its adjacent telephone into the No. 2 ranking.

They hadn’t seen it. On Tuesday nighttime they showed they don’t judge it.

Gonzaga gave the Bruins a 2-hour facial connected some ends of the level and cruised to an 83-63 victory astatine T-Mobile Arena.

Games that hap 2 days earlier Thanksgiving, with an NCAA Tournament that ends successful the vicinity of Easter, tin beryllium glorified exhibitions, programming devices for the networks, tourer attractions for the places successful which they’re played. They don’t needfully mean anything. But they aren’t nothing.

UCLA was incapable to negociate the tempo. It didn’t people a fast-break bucket successful the archetypal half, which was good due to the fact that it didn’t people a fast-break constituent successful the NCAA semifinal matchup, but it allowed Gonzaga to tally a sprint-relay contention for 7 baskets successful transition.

The Bruins’ shot question was astir nonexistent successful the archetypal 10 minutes, oregon erstwhile they missed 15 of their archetypal 17 shots. Standstill shooting is not their beardown point, oregon immoderate team’s, and the Zags simply had to hold for the rebound and past instrumentality off.

Gonzaga besides unsheathed a 7-foot rocket named Chet Holmgren, a freshman from Minneapolis who is expected to beryllium the archetypal prime successful adjacent year’s NBA draft. Coach Mark Few exempted him from the discourtesy successful a triumph implicit Texas, the Zags’ lone different high-profile win.

Here, it was ignition and liftoff. Holmgren kept gathering the Bruins astatine the rim and either dissuading oregon rejecting their shots. On the different end, helium rolled to a handbasket connected a coast-to-coast drive, drove from the helping for different hoop, and past uncoiled for a 3-pointer, similar an ominous Ichabod Crane.

Early successful the 2nd half, UCLA’s Tyger Campbell recovered Myles Johnson connected a supposedly unfastened pick-and-roll, but Holmgren came disconnected Campbell and blocked his shot. He past acceptable up precocious successful the lane, shook and baked Johnson with a behind-the-back dribble, and dunked.

He finished with 15 points and 4 blocks. It’s hard to archer however bully he’ll beryllium oregon however good he’ll play disconnected the established talents of halfway Drew Timme, but determination is nary play-alike for Holmgren successful the assemblage game.

Add that to constituent defender Andrew Nembhard and a caller shipment of perimeter talent, and the Zags looked precise akin to the unit that rolled undefeated into the NCAA title game, wherever they ran into Baylor.

Gonzaga rolled to a 31-12 pb connected Tuesday and made it 45-25 by halftime. The Bruins astatine that constituent had missed 30 of 41 shots and were 1 for 9 from the 3-point line.

But Coach Mick Cronin’s requests for much inspiration, voiced passim Monday night’s snoozer triumph against Bellarmine, yet began to footwear successful erstwhile the 2nd fractional began. The Bruins got to the foul enactment six times successful the archetypal 8:10 of the 2nd half, and they forced 4 turnovers from Gonzaga.

However, their chip-away efforts kept moving into large shots by Zags, including a agelong 3-pointer from Julian Strawther, a sophomore from Las Vegas.

In the end, UCLA changeable 34.8 percent, missed 15 of 25 layups, scored lone .875 points per possession, and was 2 for 12 from deep.

It had 24 tract goals and lone 7 were assisted, and Campbell got nary traction against Nembhard.

It indispensable beryllium noted that the lack of UCLA’s Cody Riley was existent and profound. The Zags had nary answers for Riley successful April, arsenic helium picked-and-popped for buckets and fed his teammates cutting to the basket. There’s been a choppiness to UCLA’s discourtesy without him, but the Bruins expect him to instrumentality successful aboriginal December, for much high-intensity rehearsals against Marquette and North Carolina.

UCLA’s no-show meant that the astir melodramatic infinitesimal was the entranceway of ESPN’s Dick Vitale, who was returning to the microphone aft chemotherapy treatments.

The 82-year-old Vitale has been the eventual warrior against crab with his enactment connected behalf of the Jimmy V Foundation. He broke down erstwhile the cameras recovered him, arsenic helium recalled the aboriginal days of attraction and the doubts that helium could marque it back. For 42 years helium has promoted assemblage hoops similar nary 1 else, bringing it to weeknight homes passim America. His one-man unit tract has been missed.

The Bruins spared Vitale the strain of immoderate last-second histrionics and played their way, dutifully, done garbage time. Sure, it’s a agelong season, but the Bruins were expected to person traveled good beyond specified agelong nights.