Southern draws Gonzaga in NCAA opener

NCAA MARCH MADNESS BRACKET

Southern lands No. 16 seed in NCAA tournament, 2nd-round matchup with top-ranked Gonzaga in Salt Lake City

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  --  As the charter bus carrying the Southern men’s basketball team headed back to Baton Rouge on Sunday, coach Roman Banks spent just about every minute of the seven-hour ride from Garland, Texas, replying to the text messages he received after leading the Jaguars to victory the day before.

Banks said 561 text messages had collected in his cell phone.

“If the only thing I said was thank you, I replied to all of them,” he said.

If the Jaguars win the next game they play, Banks may need days—- not hours — to acknowledge everyone who wants to congratulate him.

A day after nipping Prairie View in the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament championship game, Southern learned Sunday that its opponent in the NCAA tournament will be Gonzaga, which finished the regular season ranked first in the Associated Press and USA Today coaches polls.

As the No. 16 seed in the West Region, Southern (23-9) faces No. 1 seed Gonzaga (31-2) at approximately 3:10 p.m. Thursday at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City.

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