Bulldogs clash with Hawkeyes in South Region

Mar 22, 2015 - 2:24 PM Seattle, WA (SportsNetwork.com) - The final third-round contest in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament pits the seventh-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes against the second-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs at Key Arena.

The winner moves on to the Sweet 16 and will take on 11th-seeded UCLA. It's the first time in Bruins history that UCLA has advanced to the Sweet 16 as a double-digit seed.

Iowa took on 10th-seeded Davidson on Friday. The Wildcats possessed one of the better scoring offenses in the country, but the Hawkeyes completely shut them down. Iowa walked away with an 83-52 victory.

Gonzaga was able to take care of business on Friday against Summit League champion North Dakota State, 86-76. The Bison came into the 2014 version of the NCAA Tournament and pulled off an upset over Oklahoma, but the Bulldogs were ready for that this season.

Iowa and Gonzaga have met twice on the basketball court, with the Hawkeyes coming away victorious in both those clashes. Iowa beat Gonzaga back in 1984 (62-40) and then again in 1986 (84-64). Sunday's matchup is the first-ever meeting on a neutral floor.

Friday's second-round matchup between the Hawkeyes and Davidson belonged solely to Iowa. The seventh-seeded Hawkeyes netted 50.7 percent of their field-goal attempts in the contest, and held a Davidson offense that averaged 79.0 ppg, to 33.3 percent shooting and just 52 points. Aaron White was the star for Iowa in the win, as the big man netted 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting with six rebounds. Mike Gesell chipped in with 15 points and six assists, and Peter Jok contributed 12 points and five boards in the win. The Hawkeyes held the edge in rebounding (46-30) and in points in the paint (36-26).

White's huge outing on Friday boosted his scoring average to a team-best 16.3 ppg on 52.1 percent shooting. His 81.7 percent touch from the free-throw line is one of the best on the squad as well, and his 7.5 rpg is the team's best on the boards. Jarrod Uthoff, who scored eight points and pulled down nine rebounds in Friday's win, is the only other Hawkeye averaging a double-digit scoring total at 12.2 ppg, adding in a team-high 55 blocked shots. Iowa's offense nets 69.8 ppg on 43 percent shooting, and allows a mere 61.6 ppg to opponents, who are connecting on just 39 percent of their field goal tries.

Gonzaga and its trademark offense went to work on Friday against North Dakota State, and put up 86 points against the Bison after hitting on 51.7 percent of its shots from the floor in the contest. Kentucky transfer Kyle Wiltjer led all scorers in the game with 23 points, adding eight rebounds to his stat line. Kevin Pangos poured in 18 points, and Gary Bell Jr. contributed 13 for the Zags, who went a mere 7-of-22 from 3-point range and just 19-of-28 from the free-throw line. Przemek Karnowski helped out with 11 points and six rebounds in the victory to advance the Bulldogs to the third round, where they were ousted last season by Arizona.

Wiltjer's strong season in a Gonzaga uniform continues, as the redshirt junior from Portland, Oregon, leads the squad with 16.9 ppg on an impressive 54 percent shooting from the field. His 6.1 rpg is second on the team behind only Domantas Sabonis's 7.1 boards per outing. Pangos (11.7 ppg), Karnowski (11.0 ppg) and Byron Wesley (10.7 ppg) round out a group of double-digit scorers for the Zags who make up the core of Gonzaga's 79.3 ppg effort. The Bulldogs lead the nation in field goal percentage heading into the contest against Iowa, netting 52.4 percent of their attempts from the floor. The team's defense has also been stellar, limiting opponents to 61.3 ppg.