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Grip on Sports: Perkins, Gonzaga have to respond positively to West Virginia’s pressure to advance

Gonzaga guard Josh Perkins  eyes the ball during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game, March 18, 2017, in Salt Lake City. (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s back on tonight. The NCAA tournament. The Sweet Sixteen. And Gonzaga’s run. Does it end in San Jose, brought down by West Virginia’s pressure? Or do the Bulldogs live to bite another day? We find out starting at 4:39 p.m. Read on.

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• Precision is important. The NCAA says Gonzaga’s game tonight will begin at 4:39 p.m., so it better darn start at 4:39 p.m.

And precision is important for the Zags if they want to keep their 34-1 season alive a couple more days.

West Virginia’s game plan is to exert so much defensive pressure its opponents stop doing the things they do well. Their opponents worry so much about what the Mountaineers are doing, they break successful offensive habits. In the end, they break apart.

So it goes without saying Gonzaga wants to avoid any of that. Not without writing, though. Gonzaga wants to avoid any of that.

One way the Mountaineers get their opponents out of their comfort zone is to force the ball from the point guard’s hands. To make others make decisions. Under pressure.

Take their two games with No. 1 seed Kansas for example. In West Virginia’s win in January, the Jayhawks’ Frank Mason Jr., played just fine – as he always does. But another guard, Devonte Graham, an upperclassman who is usually steady, turned the ball over four times.

In Kansas’ home win in February, Mason was again stellar. But the Jayhawks had to overcome six Josh Jackson turnovers.

Which brings us to the key Zag tonight. No, not Nigel Williams-Goss, who will do what he does. We’re talking about Josh Perkins.

Much of the national conversation this week has revolved round the Zags’ two “point” guards. The narrative goes that Williams-Goss’ running mate, Perkins, will take the pressure off.

In a perfect GU scenario, that’s correct. If Perkins plays at his best, the Bulldogs will win. Or at the very least, their chances of winning increase measurably.

But will Perkins play at his best? That’s been somewhat of a crapshoot this season, one that began with the sophomore guard suspended a game due to an off-campus incident.

Since then Perkins has been phenomenal at times, hitting 3-pointers, finding the open man, being the perfect Robin to Williams-Goss’ Batman. That’s Josh Perkins is a big reason Gonzaga is where it is.

But the other Josh Perkins, the one who seems to get lost on every other defensive possession, who seemingly takes shots just because he hasn’t in a while, who turns the ball over trying to make a spectacular pass, he’s been around at times too.

Too many times recently.

If he shows up tonight, watch out. He was on the floor for a while against Northwestern early in the second half, then departed. The Zags’ four-man backcourt rotation became a three-man one as Perkins sat most of the final 20 minutes. He had foul trouble, sure, but he wasn’t playing well either. He finished with just two points in 25 rather forgettable minutes.

Then again, Perkins’ production has been down since the BYU loss that ended the regular season. Including that game, he’s shot just 9 of 32 from the floor, a paltry 28 percent – 26 percent from beyond the arc.

He has almost as many turnovers (eight) as he has made shots (nine) in the last six games.

And he’s averaging a hair more than 26 minutes in those contests, down slightly from his season average.

For a guy who was shooting better than 44 percent from the floor – and 42.5 percent from beyond the arc – before this six-game stretch, it’s been a mystifying slump.

And one that needs to end tonight if the Zags want to move on.

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Gonzaga: By my count there are nine basketball stories from the S-R staff to pass along today – and a photo report from Dan Pelle and Colin Mulvany. Add in the national and San Jose-based Gonzaga stories and there is about a dozen-and-a-half pieces to read. So let’s get started. … Jim Meehan has an advance on West Virginia’s pressure and Mike Roth’s habits. He also passes along some keys. … John Blanchette has his column on California graduate transfer Jordan Mathews, a popular subject among the Bay Area writers as well. … Jacob Thorpe discusses the relationship between Mark Few and West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. … Whitney Ogden has a trio of stories, covering the Zags’ love of competition, Perkins’ love for West Virginia and the turnout yesterday of young Zag fans. … Michael Gulledge has a piece on the GU band. … USA Today examines an aspect of Gonzaga’s success you don’t hear a lot about, redshirting. … The Las Vegas newspaper has a story on a Las Vegas kid. …The baseball team rallied to defeat Washington last night. … The Utah Jazz held a reunion of their 1997 NBA finals team last night and John Stockton was the star – then and now. … BYU’s Eric Mika is going to test the NBA waters.

WSU: The lull in Pullman is over. The women get back at it tonight in the WNIT, hosting UC Davis at Beasley. Jim Allen has a preview. … The football team begins spring practice today, one of the last Pac-12 schools to get started. Jacob Thorpe checked in with Mike Leach yesterday and previews the practices as well as an update on receiver Kyrin Priester’s status. … Yes, it is golf season. … There are new faces to watch this week. … The three Pac-12 teams still alive in the NCAA tournament are getting ready for their games. Arizona is San Jose and will face Xavier, with the winner getting the GU/West Virginia winner. … Oregon and UCLA don’t play until Friday, with Dillon Brooks and the Ducks facing Michigan. … The Bruins get Kentucky. … California is losing center Ivan Rabb to the NBA. And they lost two coaching candidates as well. … Will Steve Alford bolt Los Angeles for Indiana? … Washington introduced new coach Mike Hopkins to the media yesterday which led to another round of stories about him and the UW recruits. … Arizona State and Utah are on the football field this week as well. … A local quarterback, Coeur d’Alene’s Colson Yankoff, has committed to Washington. He was committed to Oregon before the coaching change.

Idaho: The women are traveling again, this time to Houston to face Rice in the WBI semifinals. Jim Allen has an advance of tonight’s game. … The men were in Texas yesterday as well and lost, 64-55 to Texas State in the CBI.

Whitworth: The Pirates split a doubleheader with Whitman yesterday.

Chiefs: Kailer Yamamoto earned second-team all-WHL honors.

Preps: Greg Lee jumps into softball today, with a feature on University High’s longtime coach Jon Schuh and a preview of the local leagues.

Mariners: Let’s see. The M’s lost again in another high-scoring spring game, 9-8 to the Angels. … Shawn O’Malley had his appendix out and was back in the clubhouse the same day. … The emergence of a couple of guys has given the M’s more roster flexibility.

Seahawks: The Hawks are still signing players, including a backup safety and another kicker. Competition is good, right?

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• In something of an anticlimax, the U.S. team routed Puerto Rico last night 8-0 and won its first WBC title. Now we can begin to count down to opening day in earnest. Until later …