A Grip on Sports: It could have been a near-perfect basketball Saturday in these parts but it was marred by an ugly ending at GU

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Thank goodness the Super Bowl is next Sunday. Not today. We might have had to ignore it. What with Washington State’s overtime win at UW last night. And Saint Mary’s two-point victory in the Kennel in a game in which ESPN’s Dave Flemming thought was out of control at the end. Or Eastern’s win in Missoula. Or wins for two of the three Division I women’s programs that played.

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• Yes, Saturday was a big college basketball day throughout the Inland Northwest. The four D-I schools were 5-2 (WSU’s women play today). But it’s that one loss that had the nation’s attention. Or at least ESPN’s.

The network was all over Saint Mary’s 64-62 win in Spokane late Saturday night. Giving it the whole “what a fantastic game” treatment. Until it wasn’t. Until it devolved into an ugly mess the last couple minutes. Until there were way-too-many replay reviews, a couple of phantom fouls, one replay that should have happened but was seemingly not allowed under the NCAA’s Byzantium rules and, finally, a revolting response from some Kennel Club members.

Funny, we haven’t seen anything this off-putting since New Year’s Eve 2009. And, funny, the same referee, Mike Littlewood, was on the court for both. In the previous incident, a technical was assessed on Washington State with .2 on the overtime clock after what should have been the game-winning shot. It cost the Cougars the game. It led to an NCAA rule clarification. And made Littlewood person-non-grata in Pullman for life.

Last night, with Littlewood, who left officiating to spend a decade coaching BYU’s baseball team, on the baseline and the game on the line, a kicked ball was missed. As was a possible out-of-bounds – shades of the North Carolina NCAA final game. All were visible on replay, but not reviewable – if the game is stopped to review anything, why not? – and Saint Mary’s benefited.

No one benefited from what happened next. Two incidents of trash thrown on the court. One game stoppage. A last couple minutes with little-to-no control by anyone. And Gonzaga’s NCAA at-large hopes dealt another blow.

Across the state, Washington State’s NCAA hopes perked up a bit. The Cougars last Pac-12 game in Hec Ed was a big one, a 90-87 overtime victory that, while not changing their NET ranking one iota (they are still 40th), gave them another Quad 1 win. The Cougs are 4-3 in that key NCAA metric (last night’s win, over No. 73 UW, counts because it was a road game).

In contrast, though GU is 27 in the NET, the Zags are 0-5 in Quad 1 games. They get another chance Saturday at Kentucky and may have a couple more shots at their first later in the season, but as of now they are still searching.

Such things don’t matter for any of the local Big Sky schools. Their only path to the NCAA’s Promised Land goes through the conference’s postseason tournament. But every league game helps lay the foundation for that grind.

Winning in Missoula is a big deal for the Eastern men. Topping red-hot Montana – after losing to Montana State on Thursday – at home is the same for the EWU women. Idaho’s upset of Montana State in Bozeman may be the best win of Alex Pribble’s first season at UI.

Sure, the Idaho women fell at home. And the Whitworth women lost in overtime on a desperation 3-pointer. Throw in the Pirate men rolling over visiting Lewis & Clark by 20 and it was an almost perfect Saturday in these parts.

Almost. Basically, only a trashy display in the Kennel ruined it.

• If you had a chance to watch the Senior Bowl on TV yesterday, you saw a Washington State player dominate the final few minutes – and make the game-winning play. That would be Chau Smith-Wade, the Cougar defensive back whose injury last season hurt WSU in many ways.

But he is healthy now and it showed in a game-changing interception and near return for a touchdown as well as the final pick that ended the contest.

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WSU: There is a finality to just about every Pac-12 contest this season. None more so, however, than a basketball game between these rivals in a facility that has been around almost 100 years. Of the few Cougar wins in the place, Saturday’s 90-87 overtime one may stand out for a while. Mainly due to Myles Rice’s reaction. Greg Woods was there and he has this tearjerking game story. … We can pass along the coverage from the Times, including Matt Calkins’ scathing column about Mike Hopkins’ team. And some photos. … Greg Lee was in Pullman Friday night as the women lost to Colorado. He also talked with lots of folks for this story on the post-Charlisse Leger-Walker era. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, we start today with Jon Wilner’s column in the Mercury News about the power play from the SEC and the Big Ten. … We mentioned the Senior Bowl above. We also mention it here as players from Oregon and Oregon State had their moments in the sun as well. … The Ducks picked up a promise from a five-star receiver. … Oregon State ran another big deficit in the athletic department. … In basketball news, a freshman has been sparking the Oregon State women recently. … Colorado is at Washington today. And Arizona State and Arizona face off in Tucson. … JuJu Watkins had an epic night Friday for USC. … On the men’s side, Oregon State’s road woes continued in am 82-54 loss at USC. The Trojans can finally breathe a little. … Speaking of road woes, Colorado has them as well. The Buffs went to Salt Lake City and lost to Utah 73-68. … UCLA built a big lead, Oregon rallied but the Bruins held on for a 71-63 win. The Ducks were delayed getting to Pauley Pavilion. … Stanford is at Arizona today. It’s a tough one for the Wildcats, as is finding a new athletic director.

Gonzaga: We watched in person Saturday afternoon as the 19th-ranked GU women hit a school-record 19 3-pointers in routing Pacific 104-39 (Greg Lee has that story), so we know there wasn’t a lid on the McCarthey baskets. But later that night, watching from home, it sure looked like it for the men. Theo Lawson delves into the Zags’ 3-of-14 long-range shooting, and a bunch of other things, in the two-point defeat. … The Bulldogs had just five assists, a season low, something Jim Meehan focus on in this story. Jim also has the difference makers. … Tyler Tjomsland has the photo gallery. … We have our TV Take. … The folks in the office put together the recap with highlights. … We have this story from San Francisco to pass along as well. … Elsewhere in the WCC, the Santa Clara women picked up a win.

EWU: The 78-65 win over host Montana earned the Eagles a weekend split and kept them atop the conference standings. … There is plenty of coverage from Missoula, including photos, to pass along. … Out in Cheney, Eastern’s 61-56 victory over the visiting Griz allowed the women to take over second place alone. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, John Canzano has this moving column on a former Portland State basketball player and how his shooting death has impacted the program. … The Idaho State men defeated Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. … Host Portland State stopped Sacramento State 58-51. … Weber State handed Northern Colorado a humbling 82-63 loss. … The Northern Colorado women, however, handled the Wildcats.

Idaho: The Vandal men had lost eight consecutive times when they walked on the court in Bozeman yesterday. When they left it, they had shot better than 50% from the floor and held an 81-75 victory. … The women lost 51-46 to the visiting Bobcats.

Whitworth: The 93-73 victory in the Fieldhouse included a 14-of-22 showing from beyond the arc and nearly 60% shooting everywhere. The Pirates stayed atop the Northwest Conference standings.

Preps: Basketball playoffs are underway in Washington and Dave Nichols has this roundup. … So are the wrestling districts, and Madison McCord was at the Spokane Convention Center to cover them with a story and a photo gallery.  

Chiefs: The second night of a two-game road trip wasn’t fruitful for Spokane as the Chiefs lost 6-3 against the Americans. Dave has that story.

Mariners: Hard-throwing reliever Gregory Santos is now part of the M’s bullpen. He was acquired in a trade Saturday with the White Sox. The back end of the Seattle bullpen is going to be tough to overcome for opponents.

Olympics: Nick Hauger didn’t make the U.S. marathon squad Saturday, finishing 24th in the trials. Dave Cook has more in this story.

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• We are back with the finished version this morning. It was a chore today. But we got it done. Until later …