NCAA basketball

This season, which started with such promise but was derailed by a series of high-profile close losses, probably had to end this way.

LJ Cryer

Follow along as eighth-seeded Gonzaga takes on top-seeded Houston in the second round of the NCAA Tournament this evening in Wichita, Kansas. Tipoff is set for 5:40 p.m. on TNT.

The Colorado and Gonzaga women’s basketball teams share several similarities.

There was no ideal start Saturday for Gonzaga, two days after racing in front of Georgia 27-3 and rolling to an NCAA Tournament first-round win. But the Zags nearly made up for it with a frantic comeback in the closing minutes that had 14,168 roaring inside Intrust Bank Arena and made the Cougars sweat out an 81-76 round-of-32 victory.

WICHITA, Kan. – Strong. Physical. Nasty. Aggressive.

WICHITA, Kan. – Of all the highly coveted basketball prospects recruited over the past several years, Gonzaga’s Braden Huff might lead the nation in one critical attribute.

WICHITA, Kan. – Picture this scene from the late 1980s: A Wiffle-ball game unfolding on a residential street in the hills of Pullman. Kelvin Sampson on the mound, John L. Smith behind the plate. Sampson’s children in the batter’s box, peppering grounders and line drives all over the black asphalt. Unforgettable Palouse nights they wish could have gone to extra innings.

Any list of memorable NCAA Tournament games from the first quarter of the century undoubtedly includes multiple Gonzaga entries, both against UCLA:

WICHITA, Kan. – It was roughly 1:50 a.m. in Italy when Gonzaga’s Final Four game against UCLA tipped off in 2021. Two hours later, Emmanuel Innocenti was still glued to his television set in Rome when Jalen Suggs’ epic buzzer beater dropped through the net at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The texts started flying between Gonzaga’s Dusty Stromer and Houston’s Mercy Miller right after the NCAA Tournament brackets were released Sunday afternoon. The TV screen showed the Midwest Region bracket with Gonzaga vs. Georgia, Houston vs. SIU-Edwardsville, winners meeting in the second round. Stromer reached for his phone to message his former Notre Dame High teammate in Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Milos Uzan had a tough job coming into Houston’s program, replacing do-everything point guard Jamal Shead, a first-team All-American now earning NBA paychecks with Toronto.

Gonzaga and Houston didn’t play each other Thursday – that round-of-32 showdown arrives Saturday – but they took turns trying to one-up the other with dominating performances.

Lisa Fortier said her team is over with mourning where it’s at in the postseason.

WICHITA, Kan. – The first sign of trouble came Wednesday night when a flight cancellation alert appeared on Tyus Battle’s phone.

WICHITA, Kan. – This game felt like an appetizer.

WICHITA, Kan. – After a few extended scoring runs from Gonzaga, Georgia briefly turned the momentum midway through the first half of Thursday’s NCAA Tournament opener.

Houston’s start wasn’t quite as impressive as Gonzaga’s in the ensuing game Thursday, but the Cougars left no doubt early in a blowout victory over Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. The top-seeded Cougars put their efficient offense and smothering defense on display throughout a 78-40 victory 16th-seeded SIEU.

In the months after he led Akron into the 2022 NCAA Tournament while running the nation’s seventh-slowest adjusted tempo, then letting a near first-round upset of UCLA slip away, Zips coach John Groce sat down to study some video. Maybe a different way might work even better. First up for review: Gonzaga. Also: Arizona.