Grip on Sports: Nothing is sweeter than an unexpected win
A GRIP ON SPORTS • One of the best aspects of being a sports fan, any type of sports fan, is when the unexpected happens. OK, when the “good” unexpected happens. Like what happened last night in Tempe for Washington State basketball fans. For Arizona State’s fans, it wasn’t such an enjoyable experience. Read on.
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• If you put money on the Cougars to win last night at ASU, either you felt the line was too high or you own a Doc Brown-modified DeLorean. Other than that, you must hate having cash in your pocket.
Honestly, who could have seen this coming? Not with this Washington State team, not this year.
The Cougars hadn’t won a true road game all season. Not just in Pac-12 play, but all season. They had lost five consecutive games, all but one of those by double digits. And their lone conference win came against California, the only Power 5 school rated lower in the NCAA’s NET rankings.
Arizona State? Sure, the Sun Devils had been up-and-down, winning home games against the likes of Kansas and Arizona. But they had also lost to Princeton and Utah in their building, meaning they weren’t invincible.
This one was different – in the bad way. The headline on the Arizona Republic’s website says it all: “ASU suffers horrific loss to Washington State seriously damaging postseason hopes.”
It’s not often the word horrific makes its way into a sports headline.
And it’s not often Washington State’s basketball team can enter the second game of a Pac-12 road weekend thinking about a sweep. It last happened a year ago when the Cougars opened their Bay Area weekend with a two-point win over California.
They didn’t get the sweep then. Can they get one Saturday against reeling UA in Tucson? Wouldn’t that be unexpected?
• As for the expected, fourth-ranked Gonzaga battled past San Francisco 92-62 in a game everyone knew would include some bad blood. Why? Last time these teams met, at USF, the Zags rubbed it in a bit with a last-second Brandon Clarke dunk over Frankie Ferrari.
The Dons remembered. At least Ferrari did. When Zach Norvell Jr. ran out for a breakaway dunk early in the second half, Ferrari was having none of it. He grabbed Norvell and made sure there wasn’t a crowd-pleasing slam. Which led to a crowd-inciting faceoff.
But the game had gotten physical way earlier, with both teams throwing folks around like a WWE match at times.
If you look at the box score, you might think Gonzaga got the best of it, as the Bulldogs shot 27 free throws (made 22) and had no one with more than three fouls among their 14 (that would be Norvell, one of which was his technical after the Ferrari incident).
USF, on the other hand, had just 12 foul shots – and made only five of those. And Ferrari, the guy who makes the Dons’ offense run, spent some second-half time on the bench with four personals. He’s a player USF can’t afford to sit and he did.
• The highways of Montana weren’t all that kind to Eastern Washington or Idaho either. The Vandals’ losing streak continued, and they gave up 100 points at Montana. The Eagles put up a stiffer battle, but still fell at Montana State.
Sadly, at least for Idaho and EWU fans, there is nothing unexpected about either of those results.
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Gonzaga: The win, Gonzaga’s 22nd this season, was documented by Jim Meehan, with his game analysis and the keys to the victory. … John Blanchette put the win in context with the rest of West Coast Conference, a group GU is decimating right now. … Justin Reed talked with Brandon Clarke about his Gonzaga single-season record for blocked shots. … Colin Mulvany was also in McCarthey and has this photo report. … We had our TV Take and the guys in the office put together a recap with highlights. … Earlier, Jim covered Adam Morrison’s being named to the WCC’s Hall of Honor. … Around the WCC, the conference is improved, except in Portland. The Pilots were blown out by BYU in a game on one of the ESPN stations last night. … Saint Mary’s, which is in Spokane on Saturday night, defeated Pacific in Moraga. … USD won at Loyola Marymount.
WSU: It’s almost as if Gardner Minshew is just playing around now. Name an award, and Minshew seems to be in the running – or wins it. He did last night, becoming the first Cougar to be named Male Sports Star of the Year by the Seattle sports commission. Theo Lawson has more as does the Times and others. … Yes, the Cougars won another conference basketball game. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, Washington is still undefeated despite being a bit short-handed at Arizona last night. The Wildcats are short-handed as well, but on the bench. What will happen in Tucson? … Utah could actually sweep all four California schools on the road this season. … Oregon State couldn’t get a win at Stanford. … Oregon has an extra day to prep for the Cardinal. … Colorado has a chance to enjoy a road win.
EWU: The Eagles led 66-64 but MSU scored the final 10 points to take home the win. … Around the Big Sky, Southern Utah seems to have Weber State’s number. … Idaho State tipped Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. … Northern Colorado got well at home against Portland State.
Idaho: We have more on the Vandals loss in Missoula. … The UI women held off a Montana rally for another conference victory.
Whitworth: It’s a big weekend for the Pirates, who will try to hold on to the second seed in the upcoming NWC tournament. Dan Thompson has a preview of the two home games.
Preps: The state playoffs are upon us in all the winter sports, including gymnastics and wrestling. Dave Nichols covers the former and Ryan Collingwood the latter. … We also have roundups from girls and boys basketball in the area.
Seahawks: Two Yankee stars are opening yoga studios together. Well, Alex Rodriguez and Russell Wilson, who wears a Yankee uniform occasionally, are opening the studios.
Mariners: Frank Robinson died yesterday. Another baseball star of our youth passing from this life. He has received well-deserved tributes from around the country, and not just for his playing. My memories of Robinson revolve around his battles with Dodger starter Don Drysdale. Robinson crowded the plate, probably more than any player this side of Ron Hunt. Drysdale didn’t like that. He hit Robinson often, sometimes even accidentally. It was a battle worth watching every time. And a battle that doesn’t happen in the same manner anymore.
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• As I look out my front window this morning it seems as if the weather folks were right. It is snowing. A lot. And I am reminded of that “Caddyshack” line about the heavy stuff. Say, when will it be golf season again? I miss missing putts. This year I’ll be able to miss them with the flag in. That will be different. Until later …