NCAA basketball

DENTON, Texas – Reece Robinson made a pair of free throws with nine seconds left to force overtime, and then his North Texas teammates dominated in the extra frame to defeat the Eastern Washington men’s basketball team 79-71 on Tuesday at the Super Pit.

Two convincing wins in two nights is a parlay that landed Gonzaga in the title game at The Players Era Championship, and has focused the national spotlight on the undefeated Zags.Win or lose Wednesday against Michigan, and Gonzaga is sure to continue the rocket ride up from its preseason No. 21 ranking.

In the latest Zags Basketball Insiders Podcast, Richard Fox and yours truly covered Gonzaga’s convincing win over Alabama, the impact of Mario Saint-Supery and Tyon Grant-Foster and the pluses and minuses of NIL-driven tournaments.

LAS VEGAS – Gonzaga coach Mark Few caught a few minutes of the Michigan-Auburn game on television prior to the Zags taking the floor against Maryland on Tuesday night at the Players Era Festival.

Alabama’s bench got the best of Gonzaga on Monday, outscoring the Zags 27-18 in GU’s 95-85 victory. It was the first time GU lost the bench points category this season. In fact, Gonzaga reserves had dominated counterparts by at least 10 points in every other game.

PULLMAN – Maybe Washington State is a second-half team.

Gonzaga puts its unbeaten record on the line against Alabama.

Welcome to a new era of college basketball tournaments – the Players Era Festival.The Players Era, in just its second year, has a stacked field of 18 teams playing in the best Feast Week tournament, each earning as much as $1 million and potentially more with $1 million awarded to the tournament champion after playing three high-level games.

LAS VEGAS – Here are three observations from No. 12 Gonzaga’s 95-85 win over No. 8 Alabama at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Monday.

LAS VEGAS – The Zags looked like a million bucks Monday night.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao. Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield. Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II.MGM Grand Garden Arena has played host to a variety of iconic boxing matches through the years and decades, becoming an unofficial hub for the combat sport in the United States. The second-annual Players Era Festival served up another juicy heavyweight bout Monday night at the historic Las Vegas venue.

Gonzaga’s showdown with Alabama on Monday night in Las Vegas fell just short of being a top 10 matchup. Alabama, on the strength of a 90-86 victory over then-No. 8 Illinois in Chicago, moved up three spots to No. 8 while the Zags, 72-point winners over Southern Utah, gained one spot to No. 12.

MOSCOW, Idaho – Idaho's offense hummed and the Vandals dominated on the glass during another impressive win.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – A poor shooting performance doomed Washington State, which fell behind by a big margin in the first half and stumbled again in what's been a dismal start to the season.

LAS VEGAS – On Saturday night, sports enthusiasts in Las Vegas watched Formula 1 cars howl up and down a street circuit on the famed Strip, regularly topping out at 210-220 mph on straightaways.

When the Gonzaga women’s basketball team gets out of its own way, there’s no telling what could await it at the end of the season.

LAS VEGAS – Gonzaga fans have been where Alabama fans were on May 28. Sweating bullets, refreshing social media every few minutes, forgoing other daily obligations until news dropped about a stay-or-go NBA Draft decision that could completely change the team’s outlook the following season.

MOSCOW, Idaho – Freshman forward Jackson Rasmussen poured in 22 points for Idaho, which shot at a highly efficient clip and routed Eastern Oregon 97-68 on Saturday night at ICCU Arena.

College basketball has served some delicious appetizers thus far from the Champions Classic to Florida-Arizona to BYU-UConn and so on.