Grip on Sports: It’s not often there is as successful a night on the local basketball courts as Thursday
A GRIP ON SPORTS • It was a good night for the local college basketball teams, though the action on the floor was limited. Gonzaga and Washington State picked up wins and Idaho won without even playing. Read on.
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• Another West Coast Conference school came into the McCarthey Athletic Center last night, hoping to slay the conference’s giant. Alas, the Loyola-Marymount Lions left looking a bit like the knights scattered around Fiona’s castle in the original “Shrek.”
The Zags’ 73-55 victory wasn’t close and it wasn’t in doubt, despite some sloppy play by GU on the offensive end. Or, if you want to be a half-full sort of person, some turnover-forcing defense by Loyola.
When the Bulldogs took care of the ball, however, they put it in the hoop better than 50 percent of the time, which in college basketball parlance would be described as “good.” For Gonzaga, however, it is known as “normal.”
Every player Mark Few has in his usual rotation, with the possible exception of Jeremy Jones, is capable of scoring 20 points against a WCC opponent. That makes the Zag offense pretty tough to stop. The Lions tried by disrupting it out front and crashing inside. It didn’t work. Nothing has, at least not in Spokane.
• The Cougars don’t have the same level of offensive firepower. In fact, for four games recently, they had just one player capable of exploding offensively, C.J. Ellerby. That’s because Robert Franks was injured.
But Franks, the senior wing, returned last night against California and sparked an easy WSU victory.
The Cougars look different with Franks on the floor, mainly because he is different. He’s a big (6-foot-8) who can score inside and outside, in the half-court or in transition. Add in his length at the back of the Cougar zone – the defense of choice last night – and he’s invaluable.
So was last night’s win.
• The Vandals had the night off, but they picked up a big recruiting win.
Jack Wilson, a 7-foot center, enrolled in school after leaving Oregon State. The former four-star recruit will have to sit until this time next season, but his size and scoring ability will be welcome in Moscow next January.
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Gonzaga: The students were back last night so McCarthey had a different feel than it’s had the past month. Everything else, though, was the same. Jim Meehan documents the victory in this game analysis and the keys to the win. … John Blanchette has his column. … Colin Mulvany supplied the photo report. … Justin Reed has a fun story about what the Zags would prefer to eat if invited to the White House. No, it’s not Big Macs. … We had our TV Take. … The Gonzaga women’s 12-game winning streak was snapped by BYU in Provo last night. … Around the WCC, Saint Mary’s is coming on, again, and the Gaels routed Santa Clara in Moraga. … No one like playing at Pepperdine, unless you win big as BYU did last night. … Pacific came also close to upsetting USF in Stockton. … San Diego shut down Portland.
WSU: Franks led the way for the Cougars with 24 points in their 82-59 win over woeful Cal. Theo Lawson leads the way for you with a game story and videos from postgame interviews with three players and Ernie Kent. … Theo also has a football story, as Gardner Minshew is a finalist for another award. … Before last night’s basketball games, Larry Weir had some thoughts in his latest Press Box pod. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, Washington is in first place in the conference standings after the Huskies’ easy home win over Stanford. … Arizona fell from the top when it couldn’t score against Oregon, who is getting healthy. … Oregon State struggled early and host Arizona State did enough to hand the Beavers their first loss. … There was some football news yesterday as well, with Utah picking up a highly thought of quarterback transfer. … The two conference linemen awards were won by Washington players. … Will the Pac-12 have a Heisman candidate next season?
Idaho: Wilson’s transfer was the big news from Moscow yesterday. … Around the Big Sky, Sacramento State hit the last shot and defeated host Northern Arizona. … Weber State had little trouble with visiting Idaho State.
Whitworth: The Pirates and Whitman have a hold of the top of the Northwest Conference standings, but the rest of the league isn’t lying down. They’re shooting for the top spot. Dan Thompson has more in this story.
Preps: The last of the GSL rivalry games was held in the Arena last night and the Rubber Chicken matchups were split, with Ferris winning the boys game and Lewis and Clark the girls. … We also have a wrestling and gymnastics roundup to pass along. … The WIAA is thinking of changing how it classifies schools.
Seahawks: A few years back, the Hawks made a draft-day trade with Denver. The Broncos moved up to take quarterback Paxton Lynch. It didn’t work out. Now the Hawks have signed Lynch, which means all three draft choices involved with the trade will be in Seattle next season.
Sounders: There will be a new look to Seattle’s uniforms next season.
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• A personal note. My sister is flying in for a quick visit. So I’m going to take some time to be with her. We won’t be here tomorrow morning, though we will be back for the Gonzaga game at Portland on Saturday night – and we will be back here Sunday. Until then …