GLENDALE, Ariz. - It isn't easy to make Przemek Karnowski a household name, but the Gonzaga Bulldogs are giving it a try this weekend at the NCAA Final Four.
Karnowski, a 7-foot-1, 300-pound center from Torun, Poland with cross-cropped hair and a full red beard, didn't lead Gonzaga in anything except drama Saturday in the Bulldogs' national semifinal win over South Carolina. If he looks like a throwback character from old-time professional wrestling, his game followed that kind of script as well.
During the course of a 77-73 win that wasn't decided until the last 2.2 seconds, Karnowski suffered a poke in the eye after having a shot blocked, needed to go to the locker room for treatment, and then returned in the second half, puffy and perturbed, to keep Gonzaga's interior defense solid against a slashing, athletic South Carolina team.