A GRIP ON SPORTS

Just when you think the sports scene is winding down, some unexpected news hits Gonzaga. And other locales. Read on.

Idaho men's basketball coach Don Verlin fortified the Vandals' backcourt by bringing in 6-foot-1 junior college transfer Antwan Scott, the Vandals' third signee for 2012-13. The junior-to-be averaged 15.9 points per game last year for Ranger College in Texas.

Verlin signed two players in the fall signing period — big men Ty Egbert and Marcus Bell. We've got more below.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Best sports moment on the first Sunday in April? It might have been I.K. Kim missing an 18-inch putt that would have sealed the deal at the Nabisco Championship, though where I was at that moment, the television was having trouble keeping the Golf Channel in focus, so I really can't be sure. What I am sure of is the best sports moment around here occurred in the Spokane Arena, where the Spokane Chiefs finished off the Vancouver Giants, bouncing back from an 0-2 hole to win the WHL first-round playoff series 4-2. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Yes, baseball season has started. Yes, pretty much each day for the next six months you'll be able to pick up your morning paper and peruse the box scores. And yes, your rotisserie team is going to bite it. But even though we're going to spend some considerable resources on major league baseball over the next 180 or so days, today we want to spend a few hundred words on Abe Lodwick. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

I don't remember many more eventful Wednesday in March around here. There was the Cougars domination of Oregon State in the CBI semifinals – basically without leading scorer Brock Motum. There was 729 blog posts from Christian Caple on SportsLink yesterday. And there was the snowstorm that dumped a few inches on my driveway starting last night. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Not a lot of surprises today. There's no rest for the Washington State men, who had to hustle down to Corvallis on Tuesday for tonight's CBI semifinal against Oregon State. The Gonzaga women, on the other hand, got to catch their breath, with coach Kelly Graves sounding on the radio as if he needed the time just to let his voice return. The Zags will face Kentucky in the Sweet Sixteen on Sunday. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Just noticed something. The tree outside my window, the one with the single leaf still attached – it often moves in the wind, catching my eye while I'm trying to write in the morning – is starting to bud. Yep. The second surest sign that spring is coming. The first? Gonzaga's NCAA tournament run is over. That happened yesterday in Pittsburgh. Read on.

The Idaho men's basketball team's best season in the last 19 years ended Saturday night — in completely forgettable fashion.

The Vandals were blasted 76-56 by Utah State at Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in the second round of the CollegeInsider.com tournament. “This game needs to be flushed down the toilet,” coach Don Verlin said. “I don’t think we need to focus on this game as far as our season.” Read on for the details.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

It seems upsets, real upsets, like a 15 seed defeating a two seed, are somewhat akin to Lay's potato chips. You can't stop with one. At least not Friday. It had been 11 years since a lightly regarded 15 seed rose up and sent a two seed to the sidelines in the opening round. So yesterday it happened twice, with Norfolk State first taking down Missouri, then Lehigh doing the same to Duke. Though unforeseen by most, the upsets play into a pre-tournament thought we expressed here related to Gonzaga's seedings. We wrote then it was better for GU to be a 10 seed than an eight or nine, because the one seeds were tough but the two seeds were flawed. Of course, the Zags earned a seven, routed West Virginia and now meet second-seeded Ohio State today. Nope, the two seed in GU's region didn't lose in the first round. The Bulldogs never seem to get that lucky. Read on.

In the chaotic moments after Idaho dispatched UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday, UI athletic director Rob Spear tweeted that it looked the Vandals would play Loyala Marymount in the next round of the CIT. Then Don Verlin said roughly the same thing to reporters.

But it didn't happen. Read how the Vandals are instead in Logan, Utah, to play Utah State tonight below in our preview. We have more below on the teams' third matchup of the season.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

I have to admit I didn't see the end of the UNLV/Colorado game last night. Couldn't get to the finish line. Failed. After spending most of the day watching favorite after favorite win, I couldn't stay awake anymore. Heck, it was after 9 for goodness sake. So we hit the sack, only to discover when I arose early this morning the Buffs had blown up that section of my bracket. The darn Pac-12. It destroys me even when it wins. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

It's finally here. The first (real) day of the NCAA basketball tournament. The basketball junkie's Christmas. It all starts at a little after 9 in the morning here on the West Coast and continues until your eyes close – or they explode – sometime late this evening. Read on.

The Vandals were humming along for much of Wednesday night in their CollegeInsider.com tournament opener. But with the punch UC Santa Barbara has on offense, “it was just a matter of time” before the Gauchos closed the gap, Idaho coach Don Verlin said.

Sure enough, UCSB rallied. But this time the Vandals responded to collect their 19th win of the year.

Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

The last time I watched a college basketball game on TV from the University of San Francisco's venerable War Memorial Gymnasium, I was afraid the fire marshal would clear the place out. It was that crowded. That, of course, was less than a month ago, when Gonzaga invaded San Francisco for a key WCC game and left with a 66-65 defeat. Last night, as I sat watching the first round game in the College Basketball Invitational, which Washington State would win 89-75, I was shocked by how empty the gym was. So empty, in fact, I got up this morning and immediately went onto the USF website to see the official attendance contained on the box score. I found it but for some reason the link wants to print the box score; just hit cancel and then scroll to the bottom for the attendance. Even after that glitch I wasn't ready for the shocking number I found here. Talk about empty. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Nothing wrong with a little rain or snow in March, is there? Especially this week of March, when you want to be forced indoors. It's the first week of the NCAA basketball tournament – and other assorted tourneys as well. It's those “other assorted” ones we're focusing on today around the Inland Northwest, as Washington State and Idaho prepare for postseason play that wouldn't have been possible just a handful of years ago. But don't worry. There is Zag news as well, including a great read for this Tuesday morning. By the way, it's raining in Spokane. Beautiful. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

If yesterday was Selection Sunday, does that make today Copier Monday?  Read on.

The Idaho Vandals bowed out early in the WAC tournament, but their season is still alive. They accepted an invitation to the CollegeInsider.com tournament on Sunday. UI will host UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Cowan Spectrum. The Vandals (18-13) still have a chance at a 20-win season for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Update: We filed a story after talking to Don Verlin. You can read it below. The Vandals played $31,000 to host the opening round game.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

It was a pretty slow Friday – unless you happen to be an Arena football fan. Then it got real exciting, real quick in the early afternoon. But the Spokane Shock don't play until Monday evening and the labor troubles that boiled over yesterday already seem to be getting resolved. Maybe it was good for Spokane to play the final game of the first weekend. Read on.

A GRIP ON SPORTS

There is still a chance today could be TF60DDOTY (or as it's known to most folks, the first 60-degree day of the year) in the Inland Northwest. Which would make it the best day of the year for me. Yep, nothing better than that first day post-winter (OK, I know it is still winter officially) you can put on shorts and wander around, causing car wrecks and blinding babies with your white legs. Of course, the past few years I've been able to do that in Pullman, where the students would always point admiringly and show their envy (I'm sure) by laughing at the whiteness of my skin. Now I have to do that at home, and the warm weather means I'll be in the back yard with a rake. Read on.

Don Verlin and the Idaho Vandals are still hunting for an elusive WAC tournament win. The third-seeded Vandals blew a seven-point lead in the final 61/2 minutes and dropped a 72-70 heartbreaker to No. 6 Hawaii in the quarterfinal round this afternoon in Las Vegas.

Idaho is now 0-4 under Verlin at the WAC tournament and the Vandals have yet to win more than a play-in game at the event. Read on.