Northwestern Wildcats

Live updates from top-seeded Gonzaga’s second-round game against No. 8 seed Northwestern.

Northwestern’s offense revolves around guard Bryant McIntosh (14.7 points per game) and wings Scottie Lindsey (14.2) and Vic Law (12.1). Law is listed as a 6-foot-7 forward but he’s the Wildcats’ best spot-up 3-point shooter. McIntosh made 41 3s but with just 31-percent accuracy.

The text showed up on Przemek Karnowski’s phone on Thursday. “Hey, I don’t know who to root for?” The author: Dr. John Shuster, the orthopaedic spine surgeon who performed Karnowski’s disc surgery on Dec. 31, 2016. The rub: Shuster earned his Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Northwestern in 1987.

The top-seeded Zags (33-1) are essentially considering it as a road game Saturday when they face No. 8 Northwestern (24-11) with a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 on the line.

In a Northwestern locker room aswirl in joy and delirium on Thursday night, a reporter approached Wildcat sub Gavin Skelly at his locker. Skelly flashed a big grin and patted the empty seat next to him. “Pull up a chair,” he said.

When asked to compare Gonzaga’s Przemek Karnowki and a player of similarly sizable stature from the Big Ten, Northwestern forward Derek Pardon described Karnowski as “heavyset.”

With 16 seconds left in No. 8 seed Northwestern’s 68-66 victory over No. 9 seed Vanderbilt, you could have made a pretty good case for Matthew Fisher-Davis as game MVP.

For many years Gonzaga has been an enigma – a small-conference school with the NCAA tournament success of a major conference power and the fan base to match. On Saturday, however, the Bulldogs will finally meet their match in the world of college basketball paradoxes – a Cinderella school from the Big Ten.

SALT LAKE CITY – Northwestern got its first NCAA Tournament victory, 68-66 over Vanderbilt, after Commodores guard Matthew Fisher-Davis inexplicably grabbed Wildcats guard Bryant McIntosh on purpose, sending McIntosh to the free throw line for the go-ahead points with 15 seconds left. Riley LaChance made a layup with 18 seconds remaining in Thursday’s game to put the ninth-seeded Commodores up by one after trailing by as many as 15.