It was the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2011, and Gonzaga was set to face BYU in Denver’s Pepsi Center. National superstar Jimmer Fredette was leading the then 31-4 Cougars on a campaign for a spot among the nation’s best collegiate basketball teams deep into March Madness, and GU had just knocked off the No. 6 seed St. John’s; it was going to be a good game.

When the Zags play in Provo Thursday night, Jimmer won't be there to drop 30+ points, so the Cougars will struggle to keep up with the reigning WCC kings

Gonzaga happened to be the next team on the chopping block for Brigham Young University, however, as the Zags fell 89-67 to end their season. For the Cougars, they would fall to Florida in the Sweet Sixteen and finish with a 32-5 record; but would also graduate the key component to their success—Fredette.

Now, about 10 months later, the two teams are slated for a rematch. It’s up to the fans to determine whether this game has more on the line than last years’ tournament battle, however. The Cougars entered the WCC this school year, and were expected to come in at the top of the league and dominate.

St. Mary’s has been the powerhouse team on the men’s side, destroying BYU twice and taking it to the Bulldogs once. It is now time for the Cougs and Zags to settle who will be the other force in the conference. Currently, the Zags hold an edge over the Cougars in the WCC standings, but when the two teams face off in Provo Thursday night so much more will be on the line.

First, GU will want to redeem themselves from the throttling they took last March. Next, the Zags will want to establish that the West Coast Conference belongs to Gonzaga—no newcomer is going to come into the league and take away the perennial power’s ownership of the conference. Lastly, the Bulldogs need to continue their winning streak to close the gap on St. Mary’s for the hope of sealing another WCC title. Thursday’s game should be, in some ways, treated like any other—a must win.

The media, critics, and BYU fans may have though the Cougars could waltz into the small school conference with their massive university and cause mayhem, but the Zag faithful knew that wouldn’t happen.

Thursday’s matchup will be the opportunity for GU to prove that the WCC belongs to the Bulldogs, and the newbies need to take a hike.  Mr. Fredette won’t be there to rack up 34 points against the Zags like he did in 2011.

For goodness sakes the background on the West Coast Conference’s website is an image of Gonzaga’s campus—does anyone really think the Zags don’t run the WCC? GU put the conference on the map, so don’t expect this Eastern Washington Jesuit university to step down from the thrown and let the new kid on the block to have any say in what happens in the conference. The rivalry is still Gonzaga and St. Mary’s and BYU is just an outlier, not even on the west coast, scraping some post-Jimmer hope.

BYU's Jimmer Fredette passes as he is surrounded by Gonzaga's juniors Rob Sacre, Demetri Goodson, and Marquise Carter in the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.

Jimmer Fredette. That’s about all I have to say.

His name has become a national sensation, but so has his game. He dropped 34 points en route to an 89-67 victory over Gonzaga. Okay so maybe those other guys wearing Brigham Young jerseys helped a little too, but not much.

The Zags’ up and down season came to a close after the BYU Cougars had their way with the Bulldogs in the round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament. After winning 10 games prior to Saturday night’s contest, it almost seemed scripted for the Zags to drop a game.

I love my Zags, I really do, so writing this is not easy; but this game was just ugly.

The first half really wasn’t all too bad. BYU held a seven-point lead at halftime, which wasn’t insurmountable at the time. However instead of coming out of the second half ready to climb into the 45-38 deficit, Gonzaga let it all slip away.

Within the first two minutes and six seconds of the second half this is what the play-by-play shows: Marquise Carter-turnover (19:44); Jimmer Fredette-made three point jumper (19:12); Demetri Goodson-turnover (18:59); Noah Hartsock-made jumper (18:47); Charles Abouo-fouled (18:37); Robert Sacre- made layup (18:34); Charles Abouo-made layup (18:15); Steven Gray-turnover (17:59); and Noah Hartsock- made layup (17:54).

The 45-38 score was suddenly 54-40.

BYU doubled their lead. Gonzaga had three turnovers, committed a foul, and made one layup, while the Cougars scored nine points. Not to mention their scoring run was kicked off with a signature “Jimmer Jumper” from way beyond the arc.

Basically, the game was over before the first media timeout of the second half. A glimmer of hope crept into the Zag faithful when Gonzaga went on a 7-0 run midway through the half to close the gap to 63-55. A quick time out from BYU to stop the momentum worked, and that hope was crushed.

Gonzaga failed to score for the next four minutes, while Jimmer and his crew continued to find the net with ease. The damage had been done; it was a 20-point advantage with a little over eight minutes left in the Bulldogs’ season.

Steven Gray ended his career at Gonzaga with an 18-point performance. Sophomore Elias Harris also tossed in 18 points, while grabbing eight rebounds.

The Zags concluded their season with a 25-10 record.

BYU will face Florida in the Sweet 16 next weekend in New Orleans.