No. 16 seed Norfolk State (17-7) vs. No. 1 seed Gonzaga (26-0)
NCAA Tournament First Round, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis; Saturday, 8:20 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Norfolk State and Gonzaga will take the floor in a NCAA first round matchup. Gonzaga earned an 88-78 win over Brigham Young on March 9, while Norfolk State won 54-53 against App State on Thursday.
SQUAD LEADERSHIP: Gonzaga’s Drew Timme has averaged 18.7 points and 7.1 rebounds while Corey Kispert has put up 19.2 points and 4.9 rebounds. For the Spartans, Devante Carter has averaged 15 points, 5.2 rebounds and four assists while Joe Bryant Jr. has put up 11 points and 4.1 rebounds.DOMINANT DEVANTE: Carter has connected on 25.6 percent of the 43 3-pointers he’s attempted and has gone 2 for 5 over his last three games. He’s also made 68.5 percent of his foul shots this season.
LONG-RANGE THREAT: Gonzaga’s Kispert has attempted 162 3-pointers and connected on 44.4 percent of them, and is 10 of 25 over his last three games.
ACCOUNTING FOR ASSISTS: The Spartans have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Bulldogs. Gonzaga has an assist on 44 of 90 field goals (48.9 percent) over its past three outings while Norfolk State has assists on 44 of 71 field goals (62 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Gonzaga is ranked first among all Division I teams with an average of 92.1 points per game.
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