SALT LAKE CITY – Gonzaga had been at its best in crunch time all season. The Bulldogs had been outstanding defensively over the last half of the season, earning a label as the best defensive club in Gonzaga’s 15-year run of national prominence. But a season with so many milestones and so much post-season promise came to a screeching halt Saturday when ninth-seeded Wichita State buried a string of 3-pointers and the top-ranked and top-seeded Zags didn’t have a response in the closing minutes. Read more

SALT LAKE CITY – So was life as No. 1 as much fun as everyone thought it was going to be? Maybe this is the wrong day to ask. Read more

Iowa State has succeeded this season when Hallie Christofferson and Chelsea Poppens score, Nikki Moody distributes the ball and the team gets to the free-throw line. Gonzaga has struggled this season when its field-goal attempts won’t drop. Read more

Tuesday:  There are a couple stories out there parsing Washington State athletic director Bill Moos’ comments yesterday on his radio show concerning basketball coach Ken Bone. Don’t expect any Internet-shattering news to come out of the annual meeting between Moos and his basketball coach. The Cougars don’t have the wherewithal to buy out Bone’s contract, even if the desire were there to make a change (and I don’t believe it is). The $2.55 million price tag is way too high. Read more

What a season for the Zags this year.   I will be one of the first to admit that it is not how I anticipated it to end, but we must still be excited for all that they accomplished. We regained the WCC title, won the WCC tournament, set a school record for wins, reached No. 1 in the rankings and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Great accomplishments and only two were probably goals to start the season.  Read more

Devastation.  Anger.  Doubt.   Disbelief.  Zag fans are certainly feeling these emotions, among others, after the Bulldogs’ crushing loss to Wichita State – I know I do.  Like the ’02, ’04 and ’06 Gonzaga teams, this year’s edition of the Zags seemed destined to be the first team to reach the Final Four. Read more

SALT LAKE CITY – Elias Harris, one of three Gonzaga seniors, would do it all over again, except change the ending. “It just hurts,” said Harris, who had 12 points and seven boards in Gonzaga’s 76-70 NCAA tournament loss to Wichita State on Saturday. “It’ll take time to get over this. Great coaching staff, great group of guys. If I could do it all over again with the same group of guys, I would.” Read more

SALT LAKE CITY – You could hear the celebration in the hallway, the walls of the EnergySolutions Arena concourse reverberating with the sounds of chants and yells that signified the toppling of a giant. And once you got inside Wichita State’s locker room, you could see it, too. Read more

Gonzaga's historic season came to an unfulfilling conclusion Saturday when No. 9 Wichita State handed the top-ranked and top-seeded Bulldogs a 76-70 loss in the round of 32. The Shockers did it by making 14 of 28 3-pointers — two nights after hitting 2 of 20 — and riding the contributions of unsung players Fred VanVleet (13 points) and Ron Baker (16 points, four 3s). … Read more

Gonzaga had been at its best in crunch time all season. The Bulldogs had been outstanding defensively over the last half of the season, earning a label as the best defensive club in Gonzaga’s 15-year run of national prominence. Read more

S-R photojournalists Colin Mulvany and Dan Pelle are in Salt Lake City covering the Zags against Wichita State.  Check out a big picture gallery of their photos. Read more

The No. 1 ranking and No. 1 seed are irrelevant footnotes now, Gonzaga’s season ending here on Saturday night following a back-and-forth, 76-70 loss to No. 9 seed Wichita State in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Read more

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S-R photojournalist Tyler Tjomsland covered the GU women's game against Iowa State.  Check out a big picture gallery of his photos. Read more

Chelsea Poppens scored 19 points, Hallie Christofferson scored 11 of her 18 in the second half, and fifth-seeded Iowa State ended No. 12 seed Gonzaga’s dominance at home in the NCAA women’s tournament with a 72-60 win over the Bulldogs on Saturday, March 23, 2013, at McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Wash. Read more

Bill Fennelly’s phone lit up Monday as friends responded to Iowa State’s NCAA tournament assignment. “I probably had 20 text messages saying, ‘Congratulations, and you got a terrible draw,’ “ the veteran Iowa State women’s basketball coach said Friday during a press conference at McCarthey Athletic Center. Read more

SALT LAKE CITY – Read somewhere that of the 8.15 million entries in ESPN’s Bracket Challenge, only two had all 16 of Thursday’s games wrong. Damn. Usually I remember to change a couple of picks when I submit multiple brackets. Read more

SALT LAKE CITY – Out of the corner of his eye, junior forward Sam Dower caught a few seconds of the Kansas State-La Salle game on a wall-mounted television inside Gonzaga’s locker room. He took note of the score – Kansas State trailed big and would eventually lose 63-61 – and slowly shook his head. The West Region bracket, where Gonzaga is the top seed, has already seen No. 3 New Mexico, No. 4 Kansas State and No. 5 Wisconsin lose to lower seeds. Read more

Good evening again from Salt Lake City. Here's some of our report on the Gonzaga-Wichita State matchup tomorrow in the round of 32. My game preview, John Blanchette's column and a cut-and-paste glance at the matchup below. Update: Here's our GU notebook and a feature on Wichita State's Malcolm Armstead. Read more

Read somewhere that of the 8.15 million entries in ESPN’s Bracket Challenge, only two had all 16 of Thursday’s games wrong. Read more