Grip on Sports: Gonzaga displays a key character trait as they survive West Virginia and advance to the Elite Eight
A GRIP ON SPORTS • The cliché is simple. Survive and advance. And that’s exactly what Gonzaga did Thursday night. The Bulldogs survived. And they advanced to their second Elite Eight appearance in three years. Though the opponent they probably expected won’t be waiting for them. Read on.
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• The No. 1 seed winning a Sweet Sixteen matchup with the region’s fourth seed is expected, right? After all, the teams are seeded for a reason. But West Virginia’s style of play – physical, tough – is a challenge to the opponents and the officials alike.
In actuality, the way the Mountaineers – and others – play is the main reason NCAA rule-makers have emphasized freedom of movement over and over the past few years.
It’s just by this time of the year such lofty expectations – you know, that a player can dribble down the court without the defender riding him like Roy Rogers – go out the window.
To win against such tactics take physical and mental toughness. Over the years, such traits haven’t been at the top of Gonzaga’s resume. This year they are.
It shows in the Zags’ defensive stats. It has shown itself in the few close games they have played this season. And it showed last night down the stretch.
When it mattered most, the Bulldogs met West Virginia’s challenge with resolution. They held on to the tough rebounds. They took – and hit – shots that required courage. And they locked down the Mountaineers best player, Jevon Carter, in the last few seconds.
They toughed out a victory.
And now they have to do it again Saturday if they want to reach the Final Four for the first time.
Xavier, the West’s 11th seed, eliminated Arizona 73-71 by putting together a 12-4 run to end the game. The Musketeers are tough, maybe even a bit dirty – we’re looking at you J.P. Macura – and won’t go away without a fight.
Only one team, of course, will survive. And advance.
• Yesterday, I wrote about Josh Perkins’ importance to Gonzaga against West Virginia’s pressure. If you watched, you saw how the Mountaineers did everything they could to ensure Nigel Williams-Goss rarely touched the ball.
So it was up to Perkins and Silas Melson to initiate the offense, though GU rarely ran what it usually does.
So how did Perkins handle the responsibility? Well, he had just one turnover, which is a good thing. However, I’m not sure you can trust that statistic, which comes from the official postgame stat sheet. See, I know the stats are incorrect.
With 4 minutes left to play, Perkins drove the left side of the lane and attempted a reverse layup. It missed. The ball came off and touched Johnathan Williams’ fingertips before being rebounded by WV’s Carter.
Yet the official stats have Perkins with zero shots. That’s none. I watched the play a couple times and can’t figure out why the folks keeping track credited the shot to Williams. And it makes me wonder if they missed that pretty obvious attempt, what else they might have missed?
• CBS gave the West Region to TBS this year, so we didn’t have the A Team on the call. And it seemed, as the game wore on, that neither Brian Anderson or Chris Webber had done a lot of homework on Gonzaga.
But I will give Webber this. He loves college basketball. He loves everything about it, from the play on the floor to the noise from the stands. He loves what the game teaches. He loves how the players react. He loves great plays. He loves mistakes.
His infatuation is so obvious, it’s hard to not get caught up in it. Yes, he struggled with the little things last night, but his passion was so apparent, it made up for a lot.
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Gonzaga: Let’s check in with the crew in San Jose, starting with John Blanchette and his column on the Zags’ toughness. … Jim Meehan handled the game story duties and added a story on Mathews’ big shot and another on the abundance of whistles. There are also his keys to the game and some important numbers. … Jacob Thorpe examined Williams’ contributions on both ends, Carter’s effort for WV and looked ahead to Xavier. … Whitney Ogden checked in with the fans and Rui Hachimura’s early appearance. … Colin Mulvany and Dan Pelle not only put together a photo report from the Gonzaga game, they added one from the Arizona/Xavier matchup. … And I had my TV Take. … This is the second weekend of the NCAA tournament, so the national coverage of the games ratchets up a bit. It is joined by coverage from Seattle and the Bay Area newspapers as well. And there is this fun piece on West Virginia’s last possession.
WSU: Spring football began in Pullman yesterday and though Jacob was in San Jose, he has this story on some changes for the Cougars. … The women’s basketball team moved on the WNIT, defeating UC Davis 71-62 before 1,456 in Beasley. Josh Wright has the story. … Stefanie Loh has a story in the Times on a WSU basketball player. … One Pac-12 team, Oregon, did manage to win its NCAA game yesterday, as the Ducks held off hot-shooting Michigan 69-68 to earn an Elite Eight matchup with Kansas. … Not only did Arizona lose last night, ensuring Sean Miller is still without a trip to the Final Four, the Wildcats lost to Miller’s old school. … UCLA faces off with Kentucky this evening with more than just a game on the line. Steve Alford’s future in Westwood seems to be up in the air. … The soap opera aspect of Washington basketball was in full force yesterday, with Michael Porter released from his NLI and his dad taking an assistant position at Missouri.
Idaho: Peter Harriman has a piece on Idaho’s spring football practice, which begins today.
Preps: Greg Lee has this story on Coeur d’Alene quarterback Colson Yankoff’s commitment to Washington.
Mariners: Felix Hernandez was back on the mound for the M’s and looked to be in mid-WBC form. The M’s won 9-2 over the Giants. … But the biggest news from Peoria yesterday was Seattle optioning Daniel Vogelbach to Tacoma, citing his poor spring as a reason. … The pitching staff seems to be getting a bit healthier.
Seahawks: So the offensive line isn’t the only place the Hawks are trying to shore up. They signed another free agent defender yesterday. … This rule change isn’t going anywhere.
Sounders: Seattle made a roster move yesterday.
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• Anyone else surprised the Gonzaga game is in the mid-afternoon Saturday? It seemed obvious the Zags would play the late game and let the East Coast have more time with Oregon and Kansas. Shows you what we know. Until later …