As described earlier today by ESPN's Eamonn Brennan, there was an upset bug going around Denver today and the 6-seed St. John's Red Storm weren't immune as they lost to the 11-seed Gonzaga Bulldogs.
Although they appeared to threaten to get back into it with under four minutes minutes left in the game, but didn't gain any traction, possibly due to exhaustion after continuing to get beat so badly on the offensive boards: Gonzaga outrebounded St. John's 23-10 in the second half and continued to create second chance opportunities with offensive rebounds.
And although the two teams played about even in the second half, Gonzaga added hot shooting to their rebounding effort to keep the Red Storm at bay and win the game going away 86-71.
For most of the second half, Gonzaga was shooting over 60 percent from the field to end what had been an exciting revival season for St. John's. Marquise Carter led Gonzaga with an outstanding line of 26 points, six assists, and five rebounds while center Robert Sacre led the rebounding charge with a game-high four offensive rebounds and tying for a game-high eight total rebounds with Elias Harris. Dwight Hardy led St. John's with 26 points.
Yet the story of this game was Gonzaga's outstanding execution - Gonzaga seems to have developed a level of chemistry that wasn't there for most of the season to assist on 61.5 percent of their field goals in the second half. As they showed in the WCC Championship, Gonzaga is peaking at just the right time after a season of erratic play. That the intangibles are coming together for a team that had high expectations at the beginning of the season is probably what stands out most.