Drew Timme sends message to haters following Gonzaga win vs. UCLA

Drew Timme delivered another all-time performance on the March Madness stage, leading Gonzaga to an epic come-from-behind victory over UCLA in Las Vegas Thursday night to advance to the Elite Eight. He was the driving force behind the win, totaling 36 points and drawing his mustache as the Bulldogs trailed by 13 points.

It turns out, that was part of his message to the haters.

“I got to do whatever I can to fire this team and fire myself up,” Timme told CBS’ Lauren Shehadi. “If people have a problem with that, they can go somewhere else.”

Just after UCLA managed to take a lead, Julian Strawther went down the court and pulled up from the logo, where he nailed the game-winning shot with seven seconds to play. As the Bruins went back down the court, they turned it over. That sent Strawther back to the free throw line, where he sealed the game and walked away with 16 points on the night.

Gonzaga is heading to the Elite Eight — and visions of 2006 went away as soon as the clock hit all zeros.

STRAWTHER FROM WAY DEEP

GONZAGA HAS THE LEAD 😱#MarchMadness @ZagMBB pic.twitter.com/jBYf4gpn4q

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2023

“As soon as it came off, it looked like it was online. … We work on that play literally in practice all the time,” Strawther said. “I’m shooting it in practice, I may be joking around sometimes, but here we are. It mattered today.”

Even despite his monster performance, Timme made sure to give Strawther his flowers in his postgame interview — as only he could.

“I am the No. 1 Julian Strawther fan on the planet,” Timme said. “No one’s a bigger fan of him than me, man.”

Gonzaga led by as many as 10 points late in the second half, but UCLA — despite going more than 11 minutes without a made field goal — managed to come all the way back and take a lead in the final seconds. But the Bulldogs had the momentum and were able to avoid heartbreak thanks to Strawther’s heroics, advancing to the Elite Eight for the sixth time in program history.

Now, Timme, Strawther and Gonzaga will get ready to take on a tough UConn team that blew out Arkansas in Thursday’s first game of the night. The two teams will tip off after the first game of the day between Florida Atlantic and Kansas State. The winners of those games will advance to Houston for the Final Four next weekend.