SEATTLE (NCAA) - No matter where you turn in the NCAA Tournament, there are ties to international basketball.

For starters, consider the performances of two up-and-coming players, Domantas Sabonis of Lithuania and the Dominican Republic's Karl-Anthony Towns.

Both are freshmen, both have bright futures.

The son of FIBA Hall of Fame center Arvydas Sabonis, Domantas Sabonis, had productive outings in Gonzaga's opening two wins of March Madness over North Dakota State and Iowa.

His first-half dunk in Gonzaga's blowout of the Hawkeyes on Sunday was one of the most talked about plays on the opening weekend of the tournament.

Sabonis had 18 points and nine rebounds in the victory.

Mark Few, the Gonzaga coach, was very impressed by Sabonis.

Domas was huge - Few

"We hit 'em with some threes, and then we were able to get it inside to Domas and he really went to work," Few said.

The former Unicaja Malaga big man, who is just 18 years of age, had had 11 rebounds to go with his seven points in the Zags' Second Round win over North Dakota State.

Lithuania have not rushed Sabonis into the senior team but instead allowed him to play at the 2014 U18 European Championship, where he averaged 15.9 points and 12 rebounds per game in that tournament.

Right now, all of his attention is on American college basketball.

Gonzaga has a long tradition of international players competing for them.

In addition to Sabonis, the team has Canadians Kevin Pangos and Kyle Wiltjer, and Poland international Przemek Karnowski.

France's Ronny Turiaf, Brazil's Joao Paulo Batista, Canada's Kelly Olynyk and Robert Sacre, Germany's Elias Harris and Cote d'Ivoire's Guy Edi all played for the Zags.

Towns, meanwhile, had solid games in both of No. 1 ranked Kentucky's wins against Hampton and Cincinnati.

In his very first NCAA Tournament outing against Hampton, Towns finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.

It's easy to see why he is being projected as a lottery pick in the NBA Draft, and why the Dominicans are so happy for him to be involved in their national team program.

"It's beautiful," Towns said of reaching the Sweet 16.

We feel like we have a lot more that we can do - Towns 

"We just have to keep continuing the process and grow as a team." 

Two coaches that are going to be highly visible in international basketball the next couple of years, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and Louisville's Rick Pitino, each presided over two wins in the NCAA Tournament.

Krzyzewski has been the coach of the USA national team since the 2006 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

His Duke side rolled to 85-56 and 68-49 wins over Robert Morris and San Diego State, respectively, in the South Region.

Their next opponents will be Utah in Houston.

Pitino, recently named the coach of Puerto Rico's national team, steered Louisville to a 57-55 win over UC Irvine in the Cardinals' first win.

The end of that contest had some controversy.

Pitino's side was far more convincing on Sunday when it claimed a 66-53 victory over Northern Iowa.

The Cardinals won the title two years ago and with a talented group that includes players like Montrezl Harrell, they could do something special again this year.

Next up for the Cards is a game against Atlantic Coast Conference foes North Carolina State, a team that stunned No. 1 seed Villanova in the Third Round of the East Region.

FIBA