NCAA basketball

Gonzaga’s head coach has mentioned several times that fans should anticipate closer games, especially on the road, because the Zags don’t have the talent level to simply show up and win big. He didn’t say it specifically but that figures to apply to home games, particularly against the better teams in the West Coast Conference. The first of those on the conference schedule arrived Thursday and resulted in a hard-fought 77-72 win over San Francisco that the Zags made more stressful than necessary with some faulty free-throw shooting.

Graham Ike’s free-throw shooting and low-post scoring were some of the biggest keys to Gonzaga’s second-half rally during a gutsy 77-72 win over San Francisco Thursday at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Graham Ike

If your excitement grade for a Gonzaga basketball game is predicated on how close the outcome is, then the Zags’ 77-72 key West Coast Conference home win over San Francisco probably graded pretty well. It certainly did for the ESPN2 crew of Dave Flemming and Sean Farnham on Thursday night.

MOSCOW, Idaho – Idaho’s game against Northern Arizona featured a Star Wars promotion, and the Force was strong with someone in the ICCU Arena Thursday.

It was an inbounds pass Eastern Washington practices from time to time, and both LeJuan Watts and head coach David Riley made clear that on the play Watts is never supposed to be option No. 1, 2 or 3.

The last time the Gonzaga women’s basketball team dropped a West Coast Conference game, it happened at Santa Clara about this time a year ago.

SEATTLE – There’s been one truism during Mike Hopkins’ seven-year tenure with the Washington men’s basketball team: When the Huskies give up 80 points they almost always lose.

Just when it looked like Gonzaga had taken command with a 17-4 spurt, the Dons rallied to make it interesting in the final minute. The Zags survived some shaky free-throw shooting late to hold on for a 77-72 victory in front of a full house of 6,000 Thursday at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

The Hotline’s predictions cover a broad array of topics, on the field and off, that will impact college football and basketball in 2024 and far beyond.

Just when it looked like Gonzaga had taken command with a 17-4 spurt, the Dons rallied in the closing minutes – which seemed to last forever thanks to Gonzaga’s repeated trips to the foul line – to make it interesting in the final minute. The Zags survived some shaky free-throw shooting to hold on for a 77-72 victory in front of a full house of 6,000 Thursday at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

PULLMAN — The biggest win Washington State scored on Wednesday may not have come on the scoreboard. It may have been on the Cougars’ resume.

With BYU, Utah and USU rolling, the state is No. 1 in the West.

Tara VanDerveer’s cellphone was flooded with texts after she became the winningest coach in college basketball last weekend. Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier was among those to send VanDerveer a text.

In four years under coach Steve Smiley, the Northern Colorado men’s basketball team has had little trouble scoring points – nor have the Bears had an issue finding elite scorers.

Coming off a career-high 26-point outing against San Diego, Gonzaga’s Braden Huff was named West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week Wednesday morning.

Gonzaga should face a steady diet of upper tier WCC foes virtually every week the rest of way – one exception being Feb. 10th when the Zags step out of conference to visit No. 6 Kentucky – beginning with Thursday’s date with San Francisco at the McCarthey Athletic Center. “Like I told them in there,” Zags coach Mark Few said after a 105-63 blowout over San Diego last Saturday, “we’re trending upward but now we’re going to play one of the better teams in the league, one you’re going to have to beat if you have designs on winning the league championship.”

It figures to be one of the best individual matchups in the West Coast Conference this season. Jonathan Mogbo does a little, correct that, a lot of everything at both ends of the court for San Francisco. Anton Watson handles a similar role for Gonzaga.

PULLMAN – Isaiah Watts couldn’t miss the opportunity. He had just joined his Washington State teammates for warmups, getting ready for the second half against USC earlier this month in Los Angeles, when he spotted one of the greatest of all time.