NCAA basketball

ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands – Already in the midst of a rough start to its season, the Washington State women's basketball team got a troubling draw for its second game at the Paradise Jam.

BOISE – Sam Houston State shot at a scorching clip during a dominant second half and blew past Idaho 94-68 on Friday in the Holiday Hoops Classic at Idaho Central Arena.

PORTLAND – Eastern Washington overcame a poor shooting performance, used a third-quarter run to build a lead and outlasted nonconference foe Nevada for a 58-57 win Saturday in the Portland Invitational at Chiles Center.

IRVINE, California – It's been an impressive run in nonconference play for the Idaho women's basketball team, which extended its winning streak to five on Friday with another lopsided victory.

Just nine seconds into Gonzaga’s basketball game against Michigan last week, Wolverine forward Yaxel Lendeborg swished a distant 3-point shot.

ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands – It got dicey in the final seconds, but Washington State made a late defensive stand and hung on for its first win.

The Gonzaga women’s basketball team has traded blows with each team it’s played in its first seven games.

Princeton transfer Caden Pierce, a former Ivy League Conference Player of the Year, will make an official visit to Gonzaga before deciding where he will continue his college basketball career.

LAS VEGAS – Two months ago, without knowing anything other than how the win-loss record would shake out, the overwhelming majority of fans would have been satisfied with what Gonzaga put together this week at the Players Era Festival.

Women’s basketball royalty swooped into Spokane recently to check on a friend.

BOISE – Idaho guard Kolton Mitchell's 3-pointer capped a 16-1 scoring run in the second half, allowing the Vandals to separate for a 78-64 nonconference win over Cal State Northridge on Wednesday night in the Holiday Hoops Classic at Idaho Central Arena.

LAS VEGAS – They call this tournament the Players Era Festival.

After a short getaway to the islands, Washington State is headed back stateside with a fourth-place finish.

All the Zags got at MGM Grand Garden Arena was a painful dose of their own medicine.

LAS VEGAS – Gonzaga came into Wednesday’s matchup with No. 7 Michigan seeking a Players Era Championship, a $1 million paycheck and another top-10 win to bolster its impressive nonconference resume.

A sight seen often at Gonzaga games: Streams of Zag fans hitting the exits midway through the second half with a blowout win secured. A sight rarely, if ever seen: Hundreds of Gonzaga fans in the concourses, leaving an arena midway through the second half with the Zags trailing by 40 points.

LAS VEGAS – Three observations at the buzzer from Gonzaga’s 101-61 blowout loss to Michigan on Wednesday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The objective was two-fold for No. 12 Gonzaga on Tuesday night against Maryland.With four other teams improving to 2-0 at the Players Era Festival before Mark Few’s squad tipped off at MGM Grand Garden Arena, it was imperative the Zags first beat the Terrapins to join a group of unbeatens in Las Vegas and stay alive in the championship picture.

Who would have known the victor of the Washington State/Arizona State basketball game Tuesday would come down to the first team to 100 points.