Salt Lake City, Utah — Facing a Gonzaga team that graduated from Cinderella to national power, Southern embraced the role of giant killer, knowing full well no 16-seed had ever defeated a No. 1 seed in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.Southern nearly became the first team to break that drought as the Jaguars kept the Bulldogs on the ropes for 40 minutes, before falling 64-58 on Thursday afternoon.
“Coming into the game we thought we were going to make history,” senior guard Jameel Grace said. “No one comes into a game expecting to lose. We always expected to come in the game and win the game.”
Kevin Pangos made a pair of big three-pointers to help Gonzaga escape down the stretch as the Jaguars gave the Zags everything they could handle, raining down a flurry of 3-pointers to kept Gonzaga on the ropes.
The Jaguars came up short against the nation’s top-ranked team when shots stopped falling from the perimeter in the final minute.
Derrick Beltran scored 21 points and shot 50 percent from 3-point range to keep Southern (23-10) within striking distance. Kelly Olynyk scored 21 points and collected 10 rebounds, while Pangos added 16 points for the Bulldogs (32-2), who will advance to play ninth-seeded Wichita State in the third round Saturday.
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