Even in loss, inspired Zags looked like Zags again

This is why Spokane fell in love with the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the first place.

Yes, all that winning and the March magic consummated the marriage, but the heart of the matter was something very much little-engine-that-could-ish – the irresistible rise of an underdog with belief and passion and will against the pedigreed programs of college basketball, and not without some basketball gifts of its own.

And so it was again on Saturday afternoon against Memphis.

Welcome back, Zags.

Whether it was the playmaking of guards Derek Raivio and Jeremy Pargo or the uncanny (OK, unlikely, too) long-range shooting of David Pendergraft or the bounce and want-to of Abdullahi Kuso – or just the absurdity of a lineup that often featured the 6-foot-6 Pendergraft as a center against the long and sinewy Tigers – the Bulldogs again stretched the boundaries of what seemed possible. And this on a day when their best big man remained on indefinite suspension and their most veteran one, Sean Mallon, was lost to an ankle sprain and fouls had them fitted for a straitjacket.

Actually, on further examination, it may have been an entirely new chapter in the Book of Zag.

“The year has thrown us an incredible amount of adversity,” said coach Mark Few, “and I thought we responded better than any group we’ve ever had. That was incredible. The best courage, the best character, the best effort in view of the circumstances I’ve ever seen.”

And it was still a loss, 78-77 in overtime, to eighth-ranked Memphis.

Make that another loss – the Zags’ 10th of the season, a first in the Few era, and the one that may have pushed the needle into the red on the gauge of Gonzaga’s chances of a ninth straight NCAA appearance.

Unless Memphis coach John Calipari gets a late seat at the selection committee table.

“If you know basketball and you watched this game, they’re an NCAA tournament team,” he insisted. “Stop. They’ve beaten four ranked opponents. Somebody will say, ‘Hey, they did that with (Josh) Heytvelt.’ Well, they didn’t have him today and right now they’re trying to figure out how to play without him.

“They’ll probably win every game out from here on in, but even if they don’t win their tournament, they should be in. If not, it’s a travesty. The RPI? Stop. Watch the game. Don’t do it by numbers. Watch them play and tell me there’s 35 teams better than that team. Stop. It’s not happening.”

A couple twists of fate and the Bulldogs could actually believe that.

But Pargo dribbled away the last 23.8 seconds of a tie game in regulation unable to pull the trigger himself or get the ball to anyone else. And the hippity-hop down the lane in last 10 seconds of overtime by Memphis Chris Douglas-Roberts somehow wasn’t a travel. And Kuso’s block of that shot didn’t stay in bounds. And the missed free throw after Douglas-Roberts subsequently made an even tougher shot for the game-winner took long enough for the Zags to corral that Pargo had time only for a 30-footer and not something more makeable.

All the remarkable plays – Pargo’s dunks, Pendo’s bombs, Raivio’s nervy drives – won’t undo those regrets.

But the regrets won’t undo the statement the Zags made that they still have a team with some depth of character – even after that image took a blow when Heytvelt and teammate Theo Davis were busted for drug possession a week ago.

Their suspensions remain indefinite, though the Zags aren’t approaching it that way.

“This is the squad we have right now and it’s all we’re going to have for the rest of the year,” said Raivio.

“We’re not expecting them to come back (this year). Coach said it’s just us, it’s all we’ve got, and we’ve got to make the most of it, play with energy and have fun.”

It was, indeed, a rush for a sellout crowd of 11,272 to see that fun and energy cranked up at what seemed to be the crossroads – the Zags down 12 points, Mallon unable to play, Kuso benched with his fourth foul and Pendo and the four guards out there with their cardboard swords.

It was just so old-school Zag, if something less than a decade old can be seen as old school. This was a crazy comeback against a team the physical likes of which has never been seen in Spokane.

“We had a chance to put them away and we didn’t,” said Calipari. “That just shows what kind of team they are. We had a chance to get that thing to 18 or 19 points. Instead we come down three or four times, stupid, and they come back basket-basket-basket. And now it’s a ballgame.

“It just shows you the fight in them. Listen, they went from a team that had a great player they could go to in post-up to now where they have to play much differently. They’ll figure it out. Let’s hope we don’t have to see it again.”

There seems just one way that’s possible.

“We’re going to have to win out now,” said Pendergraft. “That’s the only way to look at it.”

If they do, their people will love them for it. Though after this one, it’s difficult to understand why it would be conditional.