UConn men’s basketball dominates Gonzaga, Headed to Houston for Final Four

LAS VEGAS, NV (WFSB) - UConn is headed to the Final Four!

Fourth-seeded UConn wins 82 to 54 against third-seeded Gonzaga.

UConn will now travel to Houston to the Final Four.

Channel 3 Sports reporter Marc Robbins was given a few one on one minutes today by hall of fame head coach Jim Calhoun.

He led UConn to three National Championship and he’s been serving as a consultant role for the program.

It’s not quite being the head coach, but Jim said he’s happy in the role and excited about this team’s possibilities.

The Huskies dispatched of eighth-seeded Arkansas on Thursday night in the Sweet 16 of NCAA Tournament.

The final score was 88 to 65.

Here’s a look at where the bracket stood as of Friday morning:

The game tipped at 7:15 p.m. eastern from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and was seen on Channel 3/CBS.

The team had a little drama ahead of its practice on Wednesday. Officials said it was forced to switch hotels on Wednesday morning due to poor room conditions.

Fans for both teams started arriving on the Vegas strip on Wednesday.

The Huskies were 3.5 point favorites over the Razorbacks, according to early odds from Caesars Sportsbook. The over/under for total points scored was 140.

UConn sought to rely on junior forward Adama Sanogo. He put in 18 points and snagged eight rebounds.

Sanogo has a powerful post up game and a soft touch around the rim. He leads his team with 17.3 points per game and rebounds at 7.5 per game. He has also been shooting 60 percent from the field.

The game’s high scorer was UConn guard Jordan Hawkins, who had 24 points.

“We pride ourselves on rebounding in general. We knew they were Really aggressive rebounding team. They tried to punk us on the boards, but we weren’t going to let that happen,” Hawkins said. “We were going to attack the glass like we always do.”

Andre Jackson Jr. dished seven assists.

UConn students said they are just as confident as the players.

“They really turned it up,” said Liam Wilson, a UConn junior. “They know it’s tournament time. They know it’s ‘go’ time. They’ve been playing really well now. So, I think if they keep up that momentum, keep up that hard work, pressure the full court, making their shots rebounding doing all that good stuff, they have a real good shot of winning it all.”

Meanwhile, Arkansas went into the game feeling good about itself. It knocked off top-seeded and defending national champion Kansas over the weekend.

The Razorbacks had junior guard Ricky Council IV, a downhill scorer who has thrived in transition and was an acrobatic dunker. He averaged 16.1 points and 1.1 steals per game. However, he only put in 17 points for the game.

Arkansas’ leading scorer on Thursday night was Anthony Black, who had 20 points.

UConn’s next opponent, Gonzaga, defeated UCLA, a game that aired on Channel 3 right after the UConn/Arkansas matchup. The Bulldogs won 79-76.

History us on the Huskies’ side, at least in terms of meeting up with the Bulldogs in the tournament.

UConn and Gonzaga played each other back in 1999. That was an Elite 8 matchup as well, and in the west region. The Huskies won that game by 5 behind Richard Hamilton’s 21 points.

The team then went on to win it all.

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