A Grip on Sports: Sometimes it’s not the best team that wins but the team that is best at meeting the moment

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There are highs and lows in any season, in any sport. What happens, though, when the lowest low comes in a game in which you really needed your highest high? A crushing defeat, sure. More? That will be an interesting question for UCLA’s women down the road.

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• We watched two teams play a couple basketball games in Spokane last weekend, either on TV or in person. And felt they were evenly matched.

One was Connecticut, who moved on to Tampa in (large) part because the Huskies were seeded second in the same regional with USC. And not the USC team they actually played last Monday night in the Arena.

The Trojans heart, soul and shining star wasn’t playing. JuJu Watkins, who is the best player on the planet not considered an employee of her team, tore her ACL in a second-round game, a way-too-often occupational hazard of the game. Without her, USC was good enough to get past the lesser-lights of the NCAA tournament, but not the star-studded ones. With her? Hypotheticals are hard but here’s one non-hypothetical: Watkins and USC defeated Connecticut during the regular season. In Storrs, before a larger, even-more-pro-UConn crowd than was in the Arena.

UCLA, on the other hand, was at peak form in Spokane, rolling to two wins, justifying the Bruins’ status as the top tourney’s top seed. Oh, sure, there were some cracks in their foundation but All-American center Lauren Betts served as a patch in a lot of ways.

But not in Tampa. Not last night. Not when the Bruins needed every one of their multitudes of McDonald’s All-Americans to come through in the semifinals. They didn’t. And Connecticut, who has been in the situation more than any program in history, had its supporting players step up. To the tune of a 34-point win. Even though Paige Bueckers, who scored more than 70 points in her two-game Spokane stay, playing more of a facilitator – 16 points on 7-of-17 shooting – in this one.

Now Connecticut, who has 11 titles in their 12 championship game appearances, has a chance to send Bueckers off to the WNBA with the one thing missing from her college resume. But the Huskies have to get by the current dominant program, South Carolina, on Sunday. Bueckers and her then-teammates were not up to the task in 2022, the only time a Geno Auriemma-coached team has gotten to the season’s final game and not won.

• Between then and now, though, the four top men’s seeds take to the court.

Florida and Auburn start it off a little after 3 p.m. today. Two SEC schools, one with a legacy of success this century – Florida won back-to-back titles back in the aughts – and one with a legacy of success, well, never. Auburn has featured some great players and personalities – Charlies Barkley comes to mind quickly – but little in the way of important wins.

The nightcap? Houston, coached by former Washington State mentor Kelvin Sampson, against Duke, the anointed team with the anointed successor and the anointed freshman. OK, we admit that’s really not fair to Jon Scheyer and Cooper Flagg, as both earned their spots through hard work. But, still, Duke.

Scheyer played point guard in Durham for Mike Krzyzewski, came back as his assistant, earned the second chair quickly and moved into the top spot after Krzyzewski’s retirement in 2022.

Flagg was the best high school player in America last season. He’s the best college player this one.

Again, still Duke. Any hope the Blue Devils would fade into basketball irrelevance after Krzyzewski took his record-number of wins and left, have been dashed by the duo.

Scheyer’s Blue Devils mirror the way Krzyzewski’s Devils once played, just as Flagg’s game mirrors those who preceded him in Durham.

Crashing through Houston today and whoever survives to play again Monday would mean at least another seven years of bad luck for those of us who have long considered the small school in North Carolina the game’s Evil Empire.  

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WSU: Donnell Kirkwood Jr. is officially the Cougars’ latest running backs coach. The school made the hire official Friday. Greg Woods has this story. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner’s picks for the men’s Final Four are on the S-R’s site today. … Wilner also has a mailbag in the Mercury News. … As Sigmund Freud reportedly said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. And lobster bisque is just soup. That’s the beginning of John Canzano’s recent notebook. … Oregon State lost another player to the portal. … So did Colorado, a week after coach Tad Boyle said he didn’t feel there would be more portal defections. … On the other end, Utah welcomed in its first transfer of the offseason. … UCLA added three players from the portal. … Tommy Lloyd is in line for another raise from Arizona. … A former San Diego State player is in San Antonio playing for Auburn. … Colorado State picked up a well-regarded point guard from the portal. … In the women’s game, if you are looking for links from yesterday’s games, they are above. But we do have a story on transfer portal losses adding up for USC. … In football news, who will Washington pick as its backup quarterback? … Oregon welcomed back a couple key players during spring practice. … Oregon State has a new look defensively. … Colorado’s pro day was well attended and watched by folks all over the nation, thanks to ESPN. … Arizona State has a new kicker with a familiar face. … The additions Arizona has made added depth to the running back corps. … Recruiting never stops. Ask Colorado State. … Finally, we don’t mention college baseball much, mainly because there isn’t a lot of stories to link. But when the alma mater, UC Irvine, ranked 12th in the nation, routs Oregon State, ranked 11th, in Corvallis, you can rest assured we will link the story.

Gonzaga: Mark Few may know by now. Or not. But he’ll know for sure before the day ends whether he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

EWU: The Eagles held their first spring scrimmage Friday and it was a freshman from nearby that stood out. Mt. Spokane High grad Boden Gardner, who redshirted last fall, led the stats with 114 receiving yards. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana State held a pro day for its best players. … Sacramento State has been a middle-of-the-road FCS team forever. Now the Hornets are preparing to spend millions to move up and become a middle-of-the-road FBS team. Make it make sense. … Portland State hired a new women’s basketball coach.

Preps: With spring break coming up, the GSL schools had a full Friday of competition. Dave Nichols put together this roundup.

Indians: Dave was also at Avista Stadium for Opening Night, though the outcome was probably not what the 3,742 in attendance wanted to see. Spokane fell to Everett, the M’s long-season A farm club, 4-3.

Nations basketball: The games began Friday. Garrett Cabeza was at the Hub in the Valley and the Warehouse by Gonzaga to document them. … There is also this photo gallery.

Wrestling: There is another event in town this weekend. USA Wrestling Women’s National Championships are being held at the Podium downtown. James Hanlon introduces the event, which began Friday.

Sounders: Seattle takes on San Diego FC today.

Mariners: We have sort of made a pact with ourself. No officiating rant two days in a row. It’s why the 11th-inning of the M’s 10-9 loss to the Giants didn’t lead off this day’s work. Sean Barber’s three missed strikes in that inning supplied the impetus for San Francisco’s rally and comeback win. Two of them led to a ground out that moved the designated runner up 90 feet. The other avoided SF’s second out and allowed the winning run to reach base. After an out, which should have ended the game, Willy Adames came through with a two-run single. … It will be harder for the Mariners to extend Logan Gilbert than it was to do the same with Cal Raleigh.

Seahawks: Former Seattle linebacker Dean Wells died Friday at 54.

Kraken: Another subject we will cover soon? Alex Ovechkin’s ascension into the NHL’s record book as the league’s all-time goal scorer. The Capital star tied Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 goals Friday night in Washington D.C. He’ll pass him soon enough. And we’ll write something about how much harder it is to score goals these days, which makes Ovechkin’s mark even more impressive. And also explain why Gretzky will always be “The Great One.” … We linked this story in the Times yesterday. It is on the S-R site today.

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• It’s Saturday. Confession time. Bless me, but I sinned Thursday night. I was so frustrated watching my alma mater’s basketball team have to go to overtime, and then fall hopelessly – I thought – behind, I turned off the TV in disgust before the final buzzer. And didn’t see the final few seconds. After watching the ending yesterday, I thanked my lucky stars I didn’t. There is no one home to apply CPR if needed. And it might have been. Until later …