A Grip on Sports: Timme doesn’t allow Gonzaga to melt against Memphis heat
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Where were we? Oh, yes. Immersing ourselves in the NCAA tournament. At least that didn’t change.
•••••••
• One of the more appealing aspects of the tournament is the box-of-chocolate aspect of it. You never know what you might get.
That was certainly true Saturday.
Whether it be a 15-seed advancing to the Sweet Sixteen (Saint Peter’s) or the defending champion almost staging a comeback for the ages through the hack-a-Shag-and-everyone-else game plan (Baylor), Saturday gave us more than enough can’t miss games.
Including the day’s final one, which came darn close to being Gonzaga’s final one in this NCAA tournament.
If not for a couple blunders – why not foul GU’s Anton Watson when he had the ball in the final minute instead of Andrew Nembhard? – the Tigers might have knocked the Zags out and snap their streak of six consecutive trips to the second weekend.
Or, to be more precise, if not for Drew Timme.
The junior big man came up big in the locker room during halftime – he shared the PG13 version with the viewing public on TBS’ postgame interview – and on the court – he scored inside and out, hardly missing in the half’s first few minutes and jump started the Zag offense.
But, honestly, the Bulldogs finally exhibited what Mark Few asks for constantly: toughness.
The mental part of that characteristic showed on offense, as they had the patience to focus on Timme inside, all the while playing at a pace – quick – without being in any sort of hurry.
The physical part of it showed on the defensive end where the Bulldogs decided to match Memphis’ physicality on the glass. Heck, late in the game, Chet Holmgren threw his not overly robust frame into a Memphis player with such abandon blocking out, the Tiger was actually rocked back. We haven’t seen that much this season. Nor had we seen the Zags dominated on the glass as much as they were early. No matter.
A 10-point halftime deficit was erased in about 7 minutes. Memphis advantage took a little longer but Gonzaga finally took the lead with a bit more than 10 minutes remaining. It came, appropriately enough, on a Timme bucket.
Appropriate in more than one way. After all, he had spilled a bucket of emotion in the locker room floor at halftime.
And then he mopped up Memphis.
• Silver lining? The Tigers gave GU a preview of what it will face in the Sweet Sixteen game against fourth-seed Arkansas.
To whit, speed, intensity and unbending effort. As upsets abound in other regions, the West has a chance to stay true to chalk, depending on what happens today. The 1 and 4 seeds are through to the final 16. Second-seed Duke and third-seeded Texas Tech are favored to join them. In other words, Gonzaga’s road to New Orleans could be harder than any other top seed.
• We watched some of the Washington State game as well, as the Cougar women went cold after halftime and fell to Kansas State.
WSU has taken huge strides under Kamie Ethridge, enough of them to consider just getting to the tournament as not the ultimate goal. Winning a game or two is the next step. Don’t be surprised if the Cougars don’t take that one as early as next season.
•••
Gonzaga: Of course we have a long list of stories to pass along, starting with Jim Meehan’s game coverage. … Theo Lawson has more on Timme’s cheerleading routine as well as the difference makers. … Dave Boling gives some context to the comeback victory in this column. … Tyler Tjomsland captured the images in this photo gallery. … The folks in the office took care of the recap with highlights. … We watched from home and added our TV Take. … Today it’s the women’s turn to try to advance to the second weekend. They are in Louisville, facing the top-seed Cardinals on their home court. Jim Allen has a preview and a lot more, including some historical perspective. … He also checked in with Cashmere’s Haley Van Lith, who decided to travel to Kentucky to play college hoops and cash in on her fame. … The Zags have to be willing to deal with pressure, as Jim explains. … Finally, Jim has the key matchup. … The baseball team won at Pacific. It goes for the series sweep today. … Around the WCC, Saint Mary’s couldn’t keep up the pace with UCLA, as the Bruins methodically pulled away in the second half. … The BYU women also fell to the wayside in what was expected to be a strong tournament, falling to Villanova. … The BYU men won another NIT game, topping Northern Iowa. … This might be the biggest story of the day, actually. Todd Golden, who led USF to its first NCAA tournament since the 1980s, parlayed that success into the head coaching position at Florida. The Dons moved quickly to name assistant Chris Gerlufsen to replace him. … Portland won its first ever postseason game.
WSU: As we mentioned above, the Cougars fell to Kansas State 50-40 in their first round contest. Colton Clark has the game story. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college basketball, UCLA looked like last year’s UCLA team in the win over Saint Mary’s. And, with the top East seeds falling, the Bruins seem to have a easier path to another Final Four. If Jamie Jaquez Jr.’s ankle is healthy. … Arizona will face a sterner challenge today against TCU in the Wildcats’ quest to move a step closer to New Orleans. … Oregon’s season is over, both with the men, who lost in the NIT, and the women, who fell in the NCAA first round against Belmont, the same team that knocked out Gonzaga last season. … Stanford shut out (for one quarter) and dunked on Montana State to move into the second round of the women’s NCAA. … Arizona took down UNLV. … The sharp-shooting Utah team has quite the task today, facing Texas on its home court. … Back to the men, Colorado’s Evan Battey had a great tenure in Boulder. … It was an up-and-down year for USC. … In football news, Arizona State has a new defensive coordinator.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, despite the loss to Stanford, despite the men’s loss to Texas Tech on Friday, Montana State’s recent success has the Bobcats thinking big. … One Montana player left Bozeman to help the Griz football team.
Preps: Dave Nichols has a roundup of Saturday’s action.
Chiefs: It was a game Spokane couldn’t afford to lose. But, as Kevin Dudley tells us, the Chiefs did lose 6-3 to the last-place Tri-City Americans on Saturday night.
Mariners: Now that they are back on the field, what will the M’s look like come opening day? … They defeated the Dodgers yesterday. … Levi Stoudt is trying to make a good first impression with the M’s. He did Saturday.
Seahawks: The Hawks’ quarterback decision, whatever it is, will tell us a lot about whether they are punting on the season. … John Clayton was an icon for many NFL fans and aspiring sports journalists, no matter their age. He died Friday. We pass along a couple eulogies.
Sounders: Seattle will be playing shorthanded against Austin today.
Kraken: Four goals in the third period? Yes, please. Seattle rallied past the Red Wings on Saturday night.
•••
• Sometimes weekends seem so short. Other times there is so much to get done, you look back and think it was so long. Heck, we’re doing that today and there is still a day to go. Until later …