Gonzaga's Head Coach Mark Few

Let me begin by saying Mark Few and his coaching staff have done an incredible job over the past 12 years, bringing Gonzaga’s men’s basketball program to an elite level that competes against the nation’s best competition annually. With that being said, I am about to rant off my frustrations with coaching decisions and game management from Monday’s WCC Championship game.

First of all, David Stockton should not have played for 15 minutes in that game—one third of the time he was on the court.  While the redshirt sophomore did have four assists, he did not score at all. In fact, for the season, he has the second worst shooting percentage of anyone on the team at 39%.

If you watch him play, the generously listed 5’11” point guard cannot keep up in fast paced games—he is always a step behind, and constantly caught in a size mismatch in the paint. He does have a great court sense, but when the game is very transition/fast-break oriented and not a slow it down, run the set offense kind of game, Stockton is not the guy to have at the point. Monday’s championship game was very fast paced and when Stocks was in at crunch time, it was flat out questionable.

On the other hand, why was Marquise Carter not in the game more, and in potentially instead of David? Carter was the WCC Tournament MVP last season, and although he didn’t have superstar year, he is so athletic, and much quicker than Stockton. Quise only saw four minutes on the court, yet in that time he went 2-2 from the free throw line and gathered a steal.

All season long, Carter managed to find his way to the line while he was in the game.  While at the charity strip, he shot 70%, which is significantly better than Stockton’s 60%. David averaged over two and a half minutes more than Quise, yet Carter was at the line 30 more times than Stockton. Not only does that show Marquise was more scoring oriented, but that he made better use out his scoring attempts.

Also, Marquise is a senior with pressure game experience, he knows how to make the key plays and maintain the pace of the game. Yes, Carter is more of a shooting guard, but utilizing three guards, like Coach Few did much of the game with Pangos, Stockton, and Bell, could just has easily been done with Marquise at the two or three spot. He definitely deserved more than four minutes in the title game—poor decision to have him on the bench for 41 minutes.

Other players that should have seen more time are Sam Dower, Ryan Spangler, and Mike Hart. All three bench players were extremely effective in their sparse time on the court, yet clearly the coaching staff didn’t see fit to adjust the line-up in times of need.

Sam Dower produced 14 points in 15 minutes. He nailed two threes that sparked a ton of momentum for Gonzaga, yet he only played a third of the game. That’s right, the backup center, along with power forward Elias Harris were the only Zags to make multiple shots from behind the arc. Dower also contributed with nine points inside. He is a dual threat that should most definitely be on the court more when he is having a great game like he did Monday.

Mike Hart, the one time starter who barely saw the court once Guy Landry Edi became eligible halfway through the season is the best hustle player on the entire Gonzaga roster. While he played for eight minutes in the title game, it was predominately because Edi was in foul trouble.

However, Hart grabs boards, causes jump balls, and outside of Elias Harris nailing the last second three, is the reason for GU heading into overtime. He forced a trap in the corner with his tenacious defense, which resulted in Dellavedova turning over the ball with 10 seconds remaining. That play resulted in a GU ball that led to Harris’ trey.

While Hart and Edi play in the same position most of the time, they have two completely different styles of playing. In certain situations one athlete is better suited for time on the court, but considering in 22 minutes Guy fouled out, only grabbed one rebound, and score four points, it appears that Hart’s eight minutes may have been more valuable to the team. He racked up three boards and a steal with no fouls in his few minutes.

Finally, Ryan Spangler, the most efficient player of the game if you ask me, made use of his one minute on the court in the first half. He made a basket and added a rebound to his stat line in the 1:30 he spent on the court. Oh and that rebound was on the offensive end, something that the Zags struggle with frequently.

While Spangler is typically a late sub for Elias Harris at the four position, and surly the Bulldogs wanted Harris on the court, it still seems like Coach Few should have utilized the 6’8” freshman better. One potential use for him could have been to use Dower, Harris, Spangler, Pangos, and Bell as a rotation when Sacre needed a break.

Spangler might not be as tall as Rob or Sam, but he is a legitimate post player; who, like Mike Hart, has tenacity and works hard every second he is on the court. Considering Dower and Harris were shooting well from outside the paint Monday, it would have made since to move Harris to the wing spot, while Dower and Spangler played down low.

This line up would create pressure on SMC’s defense because there would be four outside threats to guard on the perimeter, and quite frankly Spangler’s inside presence would likely take a back seat to the defense. This would have opened up the court and allowed either Spangler to sneak some interior points, or if nothing else cause a size mismatch with three bigs on the court for Gonzaga. This should not be a rotation that is used all the time, but in a game in which needed some creative coaching, and Spangler showed production in limited time, it seems only right to figure out a way to shake things up as a coach and get the kid some more minutes.

Finally, I would like to understand where the communication breakdown is between timeouts, effective clock management, and whatever is done on the court in between. When Gonzaga lost to USF a few weeks ago by one, it was the final two minutes of the game in which GU failed to score that really hurt the Zags. Two timeouts were called, but neither proved to do anything but stop the clock. Both times the Bulldogs came out of the huddle and were unable to run an effective play or even get a high-percentage shot off before the shot-clock was about to expire. That made the difference in the game, the regular season title, and the WCC tournament seeding.

In the championship game, with 1:18 left in regulation, Few called a 30 second time out. Once the game resumed, GU allowed 28 seconds of the 29 available to tick off the shot clock before Kevin Pangos launched a missed three. Considering he had made one trey all night, it is doubtful that a last second toss up from beyond the arc by Pangos was really the game plan. If it was, Few clearly had not been watching the game I was. If it wasn’t, then why is it that Gonzaga was unable to effectively use a timeout strategy in the critical moments of a game?

There is plenty to criticize when your team loses, especially a very close and emotional game. It is always easy to judge game decisions based on the game, when one doesn’t know the ins and outs of what happens behind closed doors either. However, from merely watching the WCC Championship, I think that there were several coaching decisions that just did not make since, or were not effective. Let’s hope nearly two weeks off gives the team and coaching staff adequate time to prepare for the real championship.

This was it; the last game in the Kennel for Robert Sacre and Marquis Carter, and they went out with style and stardom. The two seniors were recognized prior to the game, and featured throughout the 40 minutes of play. Rob was rested for most of the game, since he is a typical starter and key player in the Bulldogs’ line up, yet managed five points and six rebounds in limited minutes. Marquise added 13 points as a starter and dished out five assists—including the first three assists for the first three baskets of the game.

Marquise Carter delivers a goodbye speech with fellow senior Rob Sacre (00). Photo from @GonzagaBulldogs the official GU Athletics Twitter

As the final minute counted down in the game, and Mike Hart waited to replace Carter, so he could receive the proper farewell cheer, a dead ball seemed impossible to come by. Hart was signaling his teammates to foul in order to stop the clock, but the referees wouldn’t blow the whistle. Finally Quise had a drive inside and rolled the ball in the bucket, while he hit the floor hard with Longview players flying into him. He made the free throw. Carter left the game, and the court, with the perfect “And 1” scenario.

That moment captured the night as a fan. The emotion, the passion, the execution, it was all present. Considering the final score favored the Zags 92-60, it is hard to really find how the atmosphere of the MAC really factored into the game, but man it was still good.

Unfortunately, the visiting Lancers from Virginia only had seven available players. The independent division one team that will be joining the Big South next year struggled to hang with the Zags after about the first seven minutes. Most of the starters for Gonzaga sat on the bench for the majority of the game, as the bench players earned valuable minutes.

Freshman Ryan Spangler earned a career high and double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. He wasn’t the only freshman to have an outstanding game, though; Gary Bell Jr. came off the bench to net 20 points—18 from behind the arc (6-9). Bell was unreal, that is the only way to explain it. He is a usual starter, but was replaced by Carter for the first half in the two guard position. GB2 started the second half in place of Guy Landry Edi, considering he had drained four three pointers in the first 20 minutes—few of which he was actually on the court—Few couldn’t leave him on the pine.

Pangos was also in double figures with a strong first half from the trey—he finished with 13 points. He went 4-5 from the three, contributing to the 46% outside shooting.

All good things must come to an end, and so after five years of Rob Sacre on the Gonzaga bench, and two years of Marquise Carter wearing No. 2 for the Zags, it is time for the Kennel to bid farewell. Their contributions to the team, program, and atmosphere of Gonzaga Basketball were remarkable and cherished.

Thank you Rob and Quise for contributing to the Zag experience, you will be missed.

Now it’s time for the postseason: Vegas Baby!

Ugly. Careless. Down right awful. Those words pretty much summarize Thursday night’s performance by the Zags at BYU.

The Bulldogs failed in the very important and very prominent game 83-73. It’s honestly a surprise that it was that close of a finish. GU trailed by 19 with less than 10 minutes to go in the game. The best basketball was actually played near the end when the Zags were scrapping for points and put in the nonstarters, aside from Gary Bell Jr. to pick things up.

BYU gave Gonzaga the Blues

If it hadn’t been for Sam Dower’s surge of seven points, Marquise Carter’s four points, and David Stockton’s five points and five assists in the last 9:11, who knows what kind of whooping the Zags would have faced. In the last portion of the contest, Mike Hart, Dower, Carter, Stockton, and Bell Jr. were left on the court to chase the Cougars and the desperate need for a win to keep the hopes of a conference title alive.

By the looks of the beating in Provo, and St. Mary’s getting another W, the 11 year WCC regular season champs may end their streak at 11. There is still a lot of basketball to be played, but tonight showed the weaknesses the Bulldog’s have, and their inability to win the big games.

GU was just 3-19 from behind the arc, and two of those threes came in the final seconds of the game nonetheless. Oh and if that wasn’t bad enough, the Zags turned the ball over 19 times, in which the Cougars gained 20 points from those 19 mistakes. That is what truly lost the game.

Clearly the ball needs to be taken care of better. And the starters need to perform like starters.

Guy Landry Edi started the first half, played for a total of five minutes the entire game, and accumulated two fouls with no points; Carter replaced him to begin the second half. Elias Harris racked up 4 turnovers, all in the first half, and only scored seven points. Kevin Pangos also had four turnovers and only scored four points. As a starting five, they committed 12 of the 19 turnovers; Carter added four more making only 3 turnovers for the guys that are the “backups.” That is a big problem.

Dower led the team with 15 points and Bell added 14, while Carter chipped in 13 points and also in double figures was Rob Sacre with 11. Stockton led the team with five assists on the night.

There really isn’t much good that came out of this game, but one highlight is that when Stockton plays point guard and Pangos fills in at the two spot, the flow of the team appears to be a lot more effective.  We shall see how the Zags rebound from the loss at Pepperdine Saturday, and if Coach Few is willing to make the necessary adjustments to win a game; rather than leave in unproductive starters for too long as it appeared Thursday.

As I was talking with my friend the other day about ideas for Big Dance Crashers, she suggested doing a “Tweet of the Day” segment. On those days when not much is going on in the GU athletic world, I decided to use her suggestion and incorporate tweets that have some humor, significance, or are flat out something to comment on in one way or another from the numerous Bulldogs on Twitter.

First up today is @SnapBackCarter, also known as Marquise Carter on the men’s basketball team. This morning he posted a very simple, yet extremely relevant statement that pretty much the whole campus has dealt with today.

The sidewalks around GU are absolutely nuts. It is icy beyond belief in some places. I looked out on to my street this afternoon and it looked like a giant piece of broken glass. Spokane was hit by several inches of snow late last week, then some rain and upper 30 degree weather during the day yesterday; mixed with a few flakes, followed by a freezing night resulted in today’s inconvenience.

That combination, along with the sunshine and blue skies and low 30s today left shady spots icy and sunny spots slushy. Pretty much walking around campus is a mess. You are either ankle deep in gross slush or performing a balancing act on the pavement or compact snow that is extremely slick. It is a lose-lose situation out there and Marquise captured it with his tweet.

The Zags travelled to British Columbia to face the University of Hawaii in their third game of the season. It was a mess. Sloppy on both sides, but in the final five minutes of the game, GU pulled away, showing their height and outside shooting were too much for the Warriors after 40 minutes of play.

Rob Sacre, returned to his hometown of Vancouver, BC, Canada to produce a double-double for the Zags

It was a homecoming for three Bulldogs, as Rob Sacre, Kevin Pangos, and Kelly Olynyk are all natives of Canada. Sacre stood out in his hometown with a double-double. He notched 16 points and ten rebounds in his performance.

Pangos, and fellow freshman Gary Bell Jr. impacted the game from beyond the arc combining for six three pointers. Bell finished the game with four, and a total of 14 points; while Pangos added 12 points, half of which were treys.

Elias Harris had eight boards and eight points and Marquise Carter tossed in 10 points for the Zags. It was good to see four of the five starters combine for 46 of the 73 points on the scoreboard, but the problem was the fifth starter not producing a single point.

Mike Hart again started the game, but hardly saw playing time. Mark Few went with a guard focused rotation, especially in the second half; utilizing Bell, Carter, Pangos, and David Stockton. At multiple times three of those four guards were on the court for the Zags.

By the looks of it, Hart had his chance to start and is quickly losing his time to prove himself. In the first game of the year against Eastern Washington, he didn’t come off the court in the second half. In the third game of the season, Saturday, Hart road the bench in the second half.

The biggest key in GU’s 73-54 win over Hawaii was the foul ratio. The Warriors racked up 27 personal fouls, while the Bulldogs escaped with 11. Two Warriors fouled out of the game, and their coach earned two technical fouls in the game to head to the locker room early.

The Hawaii bench also received a warning early in the first half, indicating the frustration the team was having with the referees.

For the majority of the game, Hawaii hung close—within ten points—until the final minutes when, just like against Eastern Washington and Washington State the Zags success at the free throw line sealed the game.

GU needs to really step it up. With a week to prepare, it is necessary to figure out why subpar teams are hanging around and making matchups much closer than they should be!

They both won. That is what counts initially—a 1-0 start to the season, the best way to begin. However, the Lady Zags accomplished their 101-88 win against Hofstra in a very different fashion than the men’s 77-69 victory over Eastern Washington University Friday at Gonzaga.

New Faces, Same Result

For the women, the key to their success is depth and plenty of talent. Obviously they can score, seeing as they broke the 100 point barrier in their first game of the year. The number of players that saw considerable time on the court also is proof of their depth.

Eight players saw double digit minutes in the contest; seven had over 20 minutes of court time, a sign of a strong rotation designed by Coach Kelly Graves. Four of the eight ladies are first year players for the Zags: Haiden Palmer, Taelor Karr, Sunny Greinacher, and Keani Albanez—two freshmen and two transfers.

Four ladies also notched double digit points; with Katelan Redmon accomplishing a double-double. Redmon had 15 points and 13 boards. Kayla Standish scored a team high of 22 points, with Kelly Bowen adding 17, and Palmer chipping in 14.

The talent on this roster is wide-spread and will definitely be put to the test as they face the perennial power of the west—Stanford—at The Farm on Sunday at 2pm.

A Narrow Escape

On the men’s side of things, Easter Washington came to play, and well, Gonzaga didn’t. The Zags snuck out the win at home against EWU, but that was only because the Eagles played their hearts out it caught up to them in the final minutes.

Eastern used up four time outs in the first half, and was out of team time outs before the first media timeout of the second half. That was a major factor in their loss Friday night. The other critical component to not pulling of the huge upset was five guys fouling out of the game.

If it weren’t for the timeout and foul situation, there is no doubt in my mind that the Eagles would have come away from the MAC with one of the biggest upsets in either schools’ history. Eastern played with a tremendous amount of heart, and had the mindset of winning the game, despite the majority of the spectators, and definitely all of Gonzaga presuming the matchup would be a blowout in favor of the Zags.

While the Eagles were busy trying to win the game, the Bulldogs were doing everything they possibly could to not lose it—although at times it seemed as if they were attempting to hand their regional competition the upset of the year in the first game of the season.

Gonzaga was 19 for 51 from the free throw line. That is terrible. That stat alone shows how horribly they played tonight. Free throw equals free points! If nothing else changed besides making all those freebies the Zags would have won by 40 points. However, they missed, causing a less than peaceful emotional roller coaster for everyone packed in the Kennel.

A surprising starting five took the court for the Bulldogs, and maybe that is what caused the inconsistency and poor play for Gonzaga. As predicted Rob Sacre, Elias Harris, Marquise Carter, and David Stockton were starters, but the fifth man—Mike Hart—was an absolute surprise to most of GU’s supporters (and probably Eastern’s team and fan base too).

What may have been even more of a shock than Hart getting the start was that he did not come of the court the entire second half! After only nine minutes in the first half, the walk-on, redshirt junior didn’t leave the floor in the final 20 minutes of the game.

Another interesting second half adjustment by GU was that while Stockton started at the point, Kevin Pangos finished the second half with 16 minutes, compared to David’s five. The freshman filled the role in crunch time, so it is only a question as to if he will continue to be the go to guy to run the offense, or of Stockton will remain the starter—especially with zero points and two assists in 19 minutes.

Rob Sacre tallied a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Elias Harris was the dominate player on the court showing tremendous power on offense and defense with 16 points and two blocks. Carter added 17 points for the Bulldogs, while Pangos kicked in 11—shooting a perfect six of six from the free throw line.

Just like the ladies, the men will be tested with a PAC-12 school, as they host Washington State Monday night at 9pm. That game will be featured on ESPN as part of the Midnight Madness Marathon.

Gonzaga has lots of options this season with many talented guards and big guys on the court

The Kennel was full. The students were loud. And the boys did their job. Gonzaga defeated Carroll College of Montana 95-51.

Yes the score was reflective of the difference in the two teams’ levels of play—being that Carroll is an NAIA school, and the Zags are one of the top Division 1 programs in the nation, it wasn’t exactly expected to be a close matchup.

There were three major things that stuck out from the night.

First off, Elias Harris is back. His freshman year he wowed the crowds with his dominance and athleticism. He really was impressive. His sophomore season was average at best. While he was still a starter, he faded into the background as a mere body on the court. Friday, however, he was back!

Two breakaway steals for dunks in the first half marked his power. He led the team in scoring with 13 points, while sitting out much of the second half. He was also six of seven from the field.

Point number two is that Ryan Spangler is good. He dominated the post tonight in his 20 minutes on the court. The freshman can play ladies and gents—he is the real deal from Oklahoma. I had an inkling when he first signed with Gonzaga that he would help out and be a surprise signee, and if tonight was any indication, he will definitely help out.

Spangler notched a double-double with eleven rebounds and ten points shooting five of six from the field. He can bang inside and he can get the shot off. That is a nice package to have, especially in a 6’8” freshman.

The third observation from tonight is that “Guard U” may no longer be the right nick name for Gonzaga. While Kevin Pangos, David Stockton, Marquise Carter, and Gary Bell Jr. are all extremely talented guards on the court for the Zags this season, the big guys are going to be doing some major damage to opponents.

With Rob Sacre at seven feet tall and 260 pounds of rock solid muscle covering the key, not many teams are going to be able to answer his presence on the court. With Harris back as a power player on the court, and Spangler making a name for himself, that is a tough interior to face. Not to mention Sam Dower is 6’11” and had one heck of a season last year—and every assumption can be made that he will continue to represent the phrase “Dower Power.”

There are some very special players wearing the Zag uniform this season. The team appeared to mesh well in their first game of the season, so that is a good sign of things to come. Eastern Washington University will arrive at the MAC on November 11^th to begin the official season.

It has begun. Practices are fully underway, Kraziness in the Kennel was this past weekend, and Carroll College arrives at the MAC for a Friday night exhibition game to get the 2011-2012 season going for the Bulldogs.

Leading up to this first matchup of the season, there are some things that need to be covered. For instance, who will earn the starting five positions? What does the competition look like? Will the freshmen and transfers fit in the rotation? How will being the home team for 14 of the first 16 games effect the season? These questions linger in the minds of the Zag faithful and must be addressed.

For this week, I would like to toss in some ideas of what I believe Gonzaga will look like as a team and how their season will fair. Each day will have a new topic of discussion and opinion.

Today let’s toss around the starting five.

1. Kevin Pangos
2. Marquise Carter
3. Guy Landry
4. Elias Harris
5. Rob Sacre

After observing Pangos and Landry at Kraziness in the Kennel, it was apparent they can impact the squad immediately. Pangos lit up the scoring during the fifteen minute scrimmage and Landry’s athleticism was incredible. Although they are new to the roster, they will be impact players right of the bat.

Carter, Harris, and Sacre are all returners that are bound to continue their growth and development as critical players in the line-up. While Sam Dower would be a great starter in many cases, I believe that it is better for the overall rotation to bring him off the bench for Sacre and Harris to keep the power consistent, rather than leaving Landry out of the starting rotation and having very few subs to bang inside.

These five will have to gel to make the offense work, but after watching them scrimmage Saturday, and seeing Carter, Harris, and Sacre last year, this rotation could be extremely powerful as a starting five.

The biggest concern is defense, as past Zag teams have struggled, especially with defending the three. Sacre brings seven solid feet of defense to the paint, while Pangos and Carter have the ability to protect the three, as long as Landry and Harris can support them, everything should be fine.

We shall see what Mark Few thinks, but with the first game around the corner, things look to be shaping into place and the Zags are ready to roll.

Rob Sacre

Elias Harris

Guy Landry

Marquise Carter

Kevin Pangos

Gonzaga's head men's basketball coach Mark Few

I have tremendous respect for what Mark Few has done with the Gonzaga men’s basketball program in the past decade, but sometimes I have to question what is going on insides of the program. As news broke Saturday afternoon that junior college transfer Guy Landry was committing to Gonzaga for the 2011-2012 season, I started to count how many guys were going to be on the roster potentially.

At this point, supposedly five incoming freshmen are coming to play basketball at GU. Then add Landry and you’ve got six new guys on a team that only lost one player to graduation, and one more that is transferring. Not to mention there are three guys that red-shirted for the Zags last season.

Here is the list of presumed returners and recruits.

1. Rob Sacre-Senior
2. Demetri Goodson-Senior
3. Marquise Carter-Senior
4. Mike Hart- RS Junior
5. Kelly Olynyk-Junior
6. Elias Harris-Junior
7. Guy Landry – Junior (Transfer)
8. Sam Dower-RS Sophomore
9. David Stockton- RS Sophomore
10. Mathis Monninghoff- Sophomore
11. Mathis Keita-Sophomore
12. Madu Cole-RS Freshman
13. Tommy Joyce-RS Freshman
14. Matt Goode-RS Freshman
15. Gary Bell Jr.- Freshman
16. Kyle Dranginis-Freshman
17. Kyle Spangler-Freshman
18. Kevin Pangos-Freshman
19. Chris Sarbaugh-Freshman

That is 19 guys potentially on the roster.

“WHAT? 19! You have got to be kidding me!” That is what I thought numbering them off. Thinking there is no way that could be right.

There is a lot of hype on how great Gary Bell Jr., Kevin Pangos, and Kyle Spangler are, so we will see if they actually live up to that hype at the college level.  Personally, unless the guys are so spectacular that they can completely alter the team’s success individually (be a one and done type player), they need to redshirt.

All the incoming freshmen need to redshirt. Let’s say they do, that leaves a team of 14.

That is a manageable number to work with at least. While 14 is still one more than this past seasons’ travelling roster, it is nowhere near as absurd as 19 players. Even with only 13 guys on the team past year,  Keita and Monninghoff struggled to see significant minutes the second half of the season,  which makes wonder if 14 is still too many.

My guess is that the three redshirt freshman will see very limited time on the court. They are all walk-ons, so if they even get to play on the team this year, it won’t be very often.

I honestly don’t understand why the coaching staff has recruited so many players, and is already starting to talk to recruits from the class of 2012. I know that teams like to have depth and obviously you want the best possible players you can get on your team, but when you return so many players, and sign a number of guys, where do you draw the line?

All I can do is trust that the coaches know what they are doing. Few has led the Zags to 11 straight conference titles and 12 straight NCAA tournament appearances, so he does know how to put together successful teams.

My biggest concern is that five guys have transferred in the past two recruiting classes now. With this many guys coming back and coming in, I only wonder how many more will hang around for a season or two before leaving the program. I strongly feel that when a player is recruited and offered a scholarship that they should want to stay all four years because they chose that school over all the others out there. I completely understand an occasional transfer due to coaching conflict, distance from home,  lack of playing time, etc. but having five out of nine recruits in two years leave, now that’s a bit of an issue.

I want what is best for the program and its players, and I’m sure the coaching staff does too. Let’s just all hope that all of these guys can come together as a team and represent the best of the Bulldogs on the court in the upcoming season.

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.