Grip on Sports: On a day when upsets were rare, Gonzaga made sure it played the favorite’s role correctly
A GRIP ON SPORTS • The first day of the NCAA Tournament is often-times filled with upsets. Buzzer-beating upsets. “Can’t-believe-what-I-just-saw” upsets. No-chance-in-heck upsets. The upset from yesterday? There were no real upsets. Read on.
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• There were a couple games in which lower seeds won of course. A couple, as in three. Minnesota began the day defeating Louisville and Florida got past Nevada late in the evening. Those were a 10 defeating a seven, so shocking they were not.
(I’m of the camp whoever wins in the middle-seed games, eights vs. nines and 10s vs. sevens, aren’t really upsets. They are just the natural outgrowth of a seeding system that has trouble distinguishing between such evenly matched teams.)
The only upset of consequence came from Upset Central, the 12-5 game. Even then, Murray State, the 12 seed, has the most highly coveted professional prospect, guard Ja Morant, and he had a triple double, so Marquette, who was playing more like a 10 seed as the season ended, wasn’t really that big a favorite.
Which brings us to the local school, Gonzaga.
The Bulldogs are the only top seed without ACC next to their name. Instead, they represent the other end of the spectrum, the WCC. The gap between A and W is supposed to be so wide as to disqualify the Zags from true national-contender status.
College basketball fans east of the Mississippi, where two-thirds of the population, and nine-tenths of the hoops snobs, live, don’t even like to recognize their existence, let alone their chances. Three ACC teams are top seeds, so three top seeds will make the Final Four. The West Region is up for grabs.
Except that narrative is old, tired and a waste of time.
The most dominant team on an upset-challenged Thursday? That would be Gonzaga, who toyed with Fairleigh Dickinson en route to an almost 40-point win.
OK, Kentucky and Kansas also ran out to lopsided wins, but they are, you know, “blue bloods” in a sport that prizes that designation. They are expected to win like that even in down years.
But Gonzaga is, for most of the U.S., still an upstart. Four consecutive Sweet 16 years haven’t changed that. Neither will a national title. That’s just fine, though, because the national narrative isn’t what matters. Results do. And last night’s 87-49 result was just perfect for Zag fans.
• How dominant were the Bulldogs? Early on against FDU they couldn’t seem to get the ball to go into the hoop. Rui Hachimura missed a whole bunch of point-blank attempts. And yet they led by double digits. Mirrors? Magic? Nope, defense.
The Knights were overwhelmed on their end, unable to deal with Gonzaga’s ability to switch any screen and still challenge every shot.
There was an early possession that defined Fairleigh Dickinson’s problems. After a screen, Hachimura switched onto 6-2 guard Darnell Edge, who did what guards are supposed to do, attack the big in space. Bad idea. Despite getting a step, Edge’s shot ended up having no chance, rejected by Hachimura’s long arm as the 6-8 forward kept perfect leverage. The Zags won enough similar battles early that FDU lost all hope. When Gonzaga’s shots started falling, the rout was on.
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Gonzaga: Lots of stories to delve into here, from Jim Meehan’s analysis of the blowout to Gene Warnick’s examination of the sights and sounds around the arena. … There’s John Blanchette’s column on the Zags’ mindset, Theo Lawson’s piece on the defense and Jim’s three keys to the win. … There are Tyler Tjomsland’s photographs, the recap and highlights put together by the folks in the office and my TV Take, which features some fresh voices. … There is Justin Reed’s piece on Killian Tille’s game and Theo’s story on the next opponent, Baylor. (After the Bears defeated Syracuse, the truTV graphic still had Syracuse moving on and that seemed to fluster Syracuse grad Andrew Catalon, who tried to correct it verbally but said Butler instead of Baylor.) … Jim Allen takes a look at the first-round opponent for the women, Arkansas-Little Rock. … There is more coverage of the men’s game if you want it. … Around the WCC, Saint Mary’s stayed close with defending champion Villanova until the Wildcats pulled away down the stretch in a grinder of a game. … BYU is losing another guard. He will transfer.
WSU: Spring football is underway. With Theo traveling with Gonzaga, Peter Harriman jumped in and covered the first day. … Theo did put together a story on Robert Franks earning all-district honors from a bunch of sportswriters. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, the conference had the day off in the NCAA, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t more news that gave it a black eye. Seems pretty common now. … Washington is in action today, facing Utah State in its first-round game. Mike Hopkins was given a new contract yesterday. … Arizona State, which survived the play-in game, is back at it. … The Oregon matchup with Wisconsin promises to be pretty interesting. … Colorado almost lost a player it can’t afford to lose. … There is football news from USC and Arizona.
Idaho: The Vandals moved on in the WNIT, winning on the road at Loyola Marymount. … Around the Big Sky, Montana didn’t put up much of a fight against Michigan, losing to the Wolverines for the second consecutive year. … The Portland State women hope to give Oregon a decent game.
Chiefs: The WHL playoffs open tonight in Spokane, with the Chiefs hosting Portland. Kevin Dudley has a preview. … Larry Weir spoke with Mike Boyle about the playoffs for the most recent Press Box pod.
Mariners: The regular season is over. For now. The M’s are back in Arizona and will be back playing exhibition games for a while. Their lead in the American League West will stand for a while. Can’t you see it? “At some point we have to acknowledge Seattle spent 14 days in first place this season …” Larry Stone says goodbye to Ichiro after covering most of his American career.
Seahawks: The Hawks still have needs after the top free agents have signed.
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• There was a time long ago when I used to look forward to car road trips. When the boys would scream and yell in the back seats until they paused just long enough to get sick everywhere. Those were the days. Now, as we head out for a weekend trip across the state, all I can think if is how boring it will be. The highlights now? Stopping every 20 minutes to use the facilities. We also have to wait to leave until after UC Irvine defeats Kansas State. No way I’m calling that an upset, no matter what the seeds are. Go Eaters. Until later …