Gonzaga has not had a particularly great season by its standards, but the Bulldogs looked like the Gonzaga of old in their first 2011 NCAA Tournament game. The No. 11 Bulldogs mopped the floor with No. 6 seed St. John's, routing them, 86-71.
Gonzaga took control early in the first half and never really gave it up, holding the Red Storm at arm's length the entire second half. Elias Harris hit a three-pointer a minute into the second half to give Gonzaga an 11-point lead, and the Red Storm never got back to single digits. It was a pretty remarkable display, considering these were the same Red Storm that topped Duke and Pittsburgh.
Marquise Carter scored 26 points on just 10 shots to lead Gonzaga, and Steven Gray added 16 for the Bulldogs. Dwight Hardy scored 26 to lead St. John's, who clearly missed D.J. Kennedy in this game.
Here is an updated look at the Southeast Region of the 2011 NCAA Tournament bracket.
No. 1 Pittsburgh def. No. 16 UNC-Asheville, 74-51; will face Old Dominion
No. 8 Butler def. No. 9 Old Dominion, 60-58; will face Pittsburgh
No. 5 Kansas State vs. No. 12 Utah State, March 17, 9:57 p.m., truTV
No. 4 Wisconsin def. No. 13 Belmont, 74-66; will face Kansas State/Utah State winner
No. 11 Gonzaga def. No. 6 St. John's, 86-71, will face BYU
No. 3 BYU defeats No. 14 Wofford, 74-66; will face Gonzaga
No. 7 UCLA def. No. 10 Michigan State, 78-76; will face Florida
No. 2 Florida defeats No. 15 UC-Santa Barbara; will face UCLA
March Madness resources: Printable 2011 NCAA Tournament bracket ... Full 2011 NCAA Tournament schedule.