The Good: Gonzaga’s women upset Rutgers to advance to the next round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Bad: The men fell to Ohio State in the round of 32, ending their season at 26-7.

The Ugly: Whatever that stuff growing on the faces of the men’s team is.

THE GOOD: Lady Zags' bench celebrates

Zags don’t lose in the McCarthey Athletic Center, and that fact remained true as the 11^th seeded Lady Bulldogs took down No. 6 Rutgers 86-73. It was all blue as the Zags wore their dark uniforms as the away team, despite playing in their home gym. The Scarlet Knights never really had a chance, they trailed from the first basket and no way were the Zags or the crowd going to let them back in.

GU held a 20-4 advantage 10 minutes into the game, and kept that 15+ point lead most of the game. Kayla Standish led the team in scoring with 23 points. Kelly Bowen earned a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Also in double figures was Haiden Palmer with 21 and Taelor Karr who chipped in 14 points.

For Rutgers, Erica Wheeler took over the scoring with 28 point. Khadijah Rushdan grabbed a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards. In all fairness, it was rather rude for the selection committee to send a six seed to an 11 seed’s home gym across the country. In the words of the Scarlet Knight’s head coach C. Vivian Stringer; however, “it’s the arena we play in,” indicating that wherever her game is scheduled is where her team needs to play, no matter any other circumstances, they need to step up.

Gonzaga advances to the second round of the Big Dance to face third seeded Miami. The Hurricanes defeated No. 14 Idaho State Saturday. Game time is set for 6:30pm (PST) in Spokane.

THE BAD: GU's bench as the loss sets in

In Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon, Gonzaga came out playing tough as the men took on second seeded Ohio State. Until the last few seconds of the half, GU made a statement leading the Buckeyes. OSU took a two point advantage into the locker room at the half—they never looked back.

The Zags remained in the game, even after trailing by as much as ten in the second half, but in the end OSU avoided the huge upset with a 73-66 win. The Zags fought for the Sweet Sixteen, and brought it to a three point game with one minute to go, but things just didn’t fall their way.

By the looks of the box score, OSU should have dominated GU, as four of their starters were in double figures; however, their bench had no points. The Bulldogs added ten from the bench, keeping them that much closer—three starters were in double digits for GU.

Gary Bell Jr. led the Zags with 18 points and five assists. Elias Harris chipped in 16 points, while Kevin Pangos added 10. The Buckeye’s two big men, Jared Sullinger and Deshaun Thomas each racked up 18 points, while Aaron Craft contributed with 17 and William Buford tossed in 13.

GU played three Big Ten teams this season, and lost all three of those games. I guess that conference just had the Zags’ number. And if nothing else comes from the loss, the nasty facial hair can disappear off the boys’ faces now that they lost.

THE UGLY: Gross facial hair growing on Rob Sacre and Elias Harris' faces during the tournament

GU Basketball will be in full force Saturday as the men face Ohio State and the women take on Rutgers. Both the Buckeyes and Scarlet Knights have the dominant color of red, while Gonzaga’s true colors are blue and white—red is occasionally added as a complement, but Saturday, leave out the crimson and scarlet because the Zags are fired up and taking over March Madness.

The seventh seeded men will play second seeded OSU around 11:45am on CBS. While on paper, most people surely don’t see Gonzaga having a chance against one of the nation’s best teams, a second look at a few factors may indicate otherwise.

Many experts figured the Bulldogs would drop out after the round of 64; instead they blew past West Virginia, resting several starters and giving their young guards a chance to experience the NCAA tournament and get rid of any jitters. On the other side of the bracket, Ohio State was in a close game much of the way against Loyola (MD) Thursday.

The Buckeye starters combined for 154 minutes; while GU’s only played 125 minutes. This meant of the five main guys for each squad, OSU’s played over five more minutes than the Zags, wearing and tearing their bodies down just that much longer.

Most notably, Jared Sullinger, who is expected to contest Elias Harris, spent 32 minutes in the game, while Harris was only on the court for 15. The Buckeyes are an excellent team, of course, but the fact that Gonzaga was able to get a little more rest for their players will hopefully be one advantage to boost the Bulldogs over the Buckeyes.

Along with the minutes played Thursday, Gonzaga got a great momentum building victory over a solid West Virginia team from the Big East Conference. Ohio State meanwhile, came out slow against mid-major Loyola, and while they won by 19, they were a little flat and not too happy with their overall performance. The different attitudes and style of wins each team had also favors Gonzaga.

The Zags are a Cinderella team by nature. They overcome distance, opposing crowds, and power conference teams without hesitation. Ohio State is just another big name to knock off on the Road to New Orleans.

For the women, they will be on the road, but at home Saturday against Rutgers. The Bulldogs are seeded 11^th and the Scarlet Knights sixth, but the Gonzaga is the host sight for the first two rounds of the tournament. GU will look to keep their strong home court success rate in tact as they take on their opponent.

Last year, with the same seed number, the Lady Zags rallied to the Elite Eight; that goal is still in mind, but first they must beat an always challenging and talented Rutgers team. The game should be a great one, but the Bulldogs hope to follow the men’s lead by knocking off the Big East squad. Tip-off is set for 1:15 (PST) Saturday on ESPN2.

The chorus of the classic John Denver song, “Country Road” is what the West Virginia Mountaineers are singing as the Zags rocked WVU 77-54 Thursday. The Mountaineers are a one and done team, and Gonzaga proved the selection committee successful as they held their own as the seven seed against the highly favored ten seed.

Distance travelled didn’t make a difference, and hometown crowd had no effect, as the Bulldogs plowed to their victory—leading from the 17:51 mark of the first half on. It was absolutely stunning. An odd mix of Zags filled up most of the minutes throughout the game, giving the key players rest, while dominating a Big East team.

In the win, several Bulldogs had trouble controlling their aggression earning several early fouls, but by the end, no one had more than three, and physicality wasn’t a concern. Rob Sacre and Gary Bell Jr. led the team with 14 points apiece. Kevin Pangos contributed 13, and Elias Harris rounded out the double figure scoring with ten.

As a team, the Zags knocked down nine threes, shooting nearly 53% from behind the arc. Mike Hart and Ryan Spangler earned some great minutes and made a tremendous impact considering their typical lack of court time. Hart drained a buzzer beating three for five points and four rebounds with 17 minutes on the court. Spangler racked up 21 minutes, in which he grabbed a team high of eight boards; he tossed in four points as well.

The Bulldogs will face Ohio State, a two seed, Saturday Morning in Pittsburgh. Tip-off is set for after the conclusion of the Syracuse-Kansas State game; roughly 11:30am (PST) on CBS.