Scratch No. 1 Gonzaga out of your bracket and replace it with the Shockers.
It was a real shocker, all right.
Ninth-seeded Wichita State hit the bull’s eye when it came to knocking out the top-seeded Bulldogs, scoring a thrilling 76-70 victory in front of a crowd of 16,060 at EnergySolutions Arena.
The win sends Wichita State to next week’s West Regional semifinals at Staples Center. The Shockers will face the winner of Sunday’s game between Mississippi and La Salle.
“This feeling is unimaginable,” said freshman guard Ron Baker, one of Wichita State’s heroes.
Baker scored 16 points, making four of his team’s 14 three-pointers, and deflated Gonzaga with big shots in the final minutes.
The first game in Salt Lake wasn’t nearly as dramatic, as No. 6 Arizona routed No. 14 Harvard, 74-51.
The Wildcats earned the second of four tickets to Los Angeles and will meet Ohio State or Iowa State.
Gonzaga (32-3) returns home to Spokane after a bitter defeat, ending a season many thought could have brought the Bulldogs their first national title.
It was only their third defeat but, man, was it wrenching.
“A tough, tough way to end a fabulous season,” Gonzaga Coach Mark Few said.
Forward Elias Harris said, “I don’t even know what’s going through my head right now. . . .I’ll was a heck of a year. It’s just over now and it’s sad. It hurts.”
Wichita State (28-8) had not played a No. 1 team since it was routed by 34 points at UCLA in December 1967.
This game was a lot closer.
Gonzaga thought it was on its way to L.A. after overcoming a 13-point deficit to take a seven-point lead with 5:30 left on a three-point basket by Kevin Pangos.
The Bulldogs’ lead then painfully evaporated.
The worst sequence came at the three-minute mark after Baker’s two free throws put Wichita State up, 64-63.
Gonzaga guard David Stockton, playing in the same city where his dad John starred for years with the Utah Jazz, and Harris mis-communicated on an inbounds pass, resulting in a turnover.
The mistake might have been overcome had Baker not immediately drilled a baseline three-pointer to put the Shockers up by four.
Gonzaga tried to scramble back but could never recover.
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