The Gonzaga Bulldogs’ chances of an at-large bid into the 2024 NCAA Tournament are trending in the right direction after their road win at Loyola Marymount.
Before tipoff at Gersten Pavilion on Thursday, Gonzaga (19-6, 9-2 WCC) was projected as the last team to make the 68-team field in the ESPN Bracketology update from Joe Lunardi, who moved the Bulldogs into the “Last Four In” group after Richmond lost at home to UMass. Lunardi noted in his update that Gonzaga needed to win at LMU to hold its position in the field, which happened to be the case after a 91-74 victory over the Lions .
The Bulldogs fended off quite the fight from LMU and Will Johnston, who scored 33 points and nailed seven 3-pointers to keep his team neck-and-neck throughout. But after the Lions made it a 72-71 game midway through the second half, Gonzaga amped up its defensive intensity and finished the game on a 19-3 run over the last 7:35. Graham Ike led the charge with 23 points, Nolan Hickman added 22 and the Bulldogs scored 23 points off 12 turnovers from the Lions.