PDF Box ScoreSEATTLE – No. 15 seed North Dakota State fell 86-76 to second-seeded Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament Friday, March 20, before a crowd of 14,852 at KeyArena.
Dexter Werner scored a career-high 22 points and
Lawrence Alexander had 19 for NDSU, which ended its season 23-10 overall. It was the third NCAA tournament in seven years for the Bison.
Gonzaga led by as many as 18 midway through the second half, but North Dakota State went on a 16-4 run to trim the deficit to 57-51 on Werner's three-point play with 11:13 to go.
Werner's back-to-back field goals made it 68-62 with six minutes left, but Gonzaga pulled away behind West Coast Conference MVP Kevin Pangos, who scored 12 of his team's final 18 points.
Kyle Wiltjer scored a game-high 23 points and Pangos finished with 18 for the Bulldogs, who improved to 33-2 and will face Iowa in the third round.
North Dakota State made three straight 3-pointers to start the game, but Gonzaga went on a 20-4 run and opened up a 43-30 lead by halftime.
NDSU shot 59 percent in the second half and finished the game 29 of 54 overall for 54 percent, outshooting the nation's No. 1 field goal percentage team.
Gonzaga was 30 of 58 overall for 52 percent and outscored NDSU 19-8 at the foul line.
The taller Zags had a 35-24 advantage on the glass with Domantas Sabonis grabbing 11 rebounds.
Kory Brown had six boards to lead NDSU.
Alexander finished the year with 624 points, third most in NDSU single-season history. He finished fourth in school history with 1,755 career points.
