nERD Score: 68.19

Matthews’ score is considerably lower than the top guns from the other three teams remaining, making it a testament to Gonzaga’s depth. He is trailed narrowly by Jonathan Williams (63.39), as well as Zach Collins (50.6). Nigel Williams-Goss is next at 35.19, making the Bulldogs the only team in the Final Four with four players with a nERD score of 35 or better.

Their senior small forward has led the way largely on the strength of a dominant opening game against 16 seed South Dakota State. The game alone was worth 45.84 nERD, as he scored 16 points with a 140.5 offensive rating.

Matthews followed that up with a 14-point, 7-rebound performance in the Round of 32 against Northwestern. He was subpar in the Sweet 16 (-1.86 nERD) but turned things back on in the Elite 8.

In Gonzaga’s win over Xavier, Matthews was only 2 for 9 from the field, but was 5 for 5 from the free throw line and posted an individual defensive rating of 88.9 to end up with an 11.78 nERD.

As solid as Matthews has been, the Bulldogs’ catalyst in their last two games has really been Jonathan Williams, who averaged 16.0 points per game while shooting 63.2% from the field during this span.