Just the third No. 7 seed to make the Final Four in the history of the tournament,South Carolina's late second-half push wasn't quite enough in a 77-73 defeat to Gonzaga.
South Carolina senior guard and CBS first-team All-American Sindarius Thornwell entered the game as the tournament's leading scorer, averaging 25.8 points per game, but was held in check by Gonzaga's defense early.
Thornwell was limited this week in practice after dealing with an illness upon the Gamecocks arrival in Phoenix. Gonzaga shadowed Thornwell on the perimeter and utilized their length and physicality to clog the paint. The Bulldogs dealt Thornwell a mismatch by defending him with 6-foot-9 forward Johnathan Williams. With Thornwell possibly still feeling side effects from previous symptoms, he wasn't able to find open looks by beating Williams with his usual quickness.
Seven other South Carolina players scored before the SEC Player of the Year registered his first points. Thornwell recorded his first field goal of the game with 3:08 remaining before the break on a shot that looked off-target upon its release but banked in off a low quadrant of the glass.
Gonzaga's 300-pound center Przemek Karnowski gave the Gamecocks' defense fits on the interior, scoring six early points before going to the locker room after accidentally being gouged in the eye by South Carolina forward Chris Silva.
Karnowski returned after the half.
With Thornwell struggling to match his typical offensive production, senior guard Justin McKie scored eight points off the bench for the Gamecocks in the first half. McKie had not matched that total in an entire game since Feb. 11 against Mississippi State.
Gonzaga shot 58 percent from the field in the first and finished on a 7-0 run. South Carolina's opponents shot under 40 percent from the field on average in the Gamecocks' first four tournament games. At halftime, the Bulldogs lead 45-36.
The Gamecocks allowed more than 40 points in the opening half just four other times all season.
"It was a lack of energy," freshman guard Rakym Felder said. "We weren't being ourselves, keying in defensively."
The lightening-quick release of Gonzaga guard Nigel Williams-Goss disrupted the Gamecocks' defense. The only John R. Wooden Award who survived to advance to the Final Four recorded 23 points.
Williams-Goss capitalized on a basket-and-foul for a three-point play to give Gonzaga a 64-51 advantage with 10:55 remaining.
Then South Carolina made its run.
The Gamecocks rediscovered their trademark blue-collar defense and outscored Gonzaga 17-0 during a second-half stretch. Thornwell and sophomore guard PJ Dozier connected on consecutive 3-pointers to anchor the run. A Dozier floater to tie the game served as the exclamation mark on the Gamecocks' torrid scoring streak.
"It's who we are, that's why I've been so positive and so proud of these kids the whole year," South Carolina head coach Frank Martin said. "Whether it's win or lose, we're so resilient. They don't give in to difficult moments, and that's the reason we're on this platform tonight."
Dozier paced the Gamecocks in scoring with 17 points.
After the Gamecocks secured a 67-65 advantage, the Bulldogs rediscovered their touch on offense by feeding Karnowski in the paint.
The Bulldogs held a 75-73 lead in the final minute. Williams-Goss missed a fading 3-point attempt and South Carolina recovered the ball with 12.7 seconds left in the contest.
Gonzaga fouled Thornwell with less than 3.5 seconds remaining. The senior hit 1-of-2 attempts and the Gamecocks immediately sent Killian Tillie to the line.
"The plan was to miss it left," Thornwell said of the second free-throw attempt. "Hopefully Chris [Silva] could tap it off of somebody."
Tillie converted both attempts and secured a 77-73 win for the Bulldogs.
Gonzaga will face the winner of the North Carolina vs. Oregon semifinal. The Bulldogs have reached the NCAA Tournament in 19-straight NCAA Tournaments, but this will mark their fist appearance in the National Championship.
"We figured out a way to get off our backs and get back up and fight to the end," Martin said. "And that's why I'm so proud of these guys and what they've built and how hard they fought to get a lot of people to smile, a lot of people to care."