A Grip on Sports: College hoops’ excitement meter may not have overloaded last night in the area but the success one certainly did

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Over the past decade or two, there has been one descriptive word that has never been used when describing a Gonzaga matchup with Saint Mary’s. Boring. Until last night. The Zags’ 87-65 victory was a methodical disrobing of their most-hated West Coast Conference rivals. But it also was part of one of the better college basketball evenings in the Inland Northwest.

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• As you surely know, we watch Gonzaga’s games on TV and then write about the broadcast. We did it last night again, which forced us to keep in tune with what was happening until the final minutes. If not, we would have been watching Modern Family on E. Or maybe The Big Bang Theory over on TBS.

The game was that dreary.

Oh, sure. Watching Randy Bennett pace the McCarthey Athletic Center sidelines with a look of resignation on his face was fun. And there were some moments of excitement, most notably the best dunk I’ve seen Anton Watson have since his first in competition, back in eighth grade. But overall, the Zags’ 21st win of the season had more in common with watching a guy at Quickie Lube change the oil on your 2003 Highlander than a Final Four game.

Which is probably all well and good for Mark Few, who spent most of the evening quietly instructing, using the teaching moments every game presents, no matter the score to, well, teach. There is a pretty important tournament coming up next month.

And what did we learn Thursday night? In these parts we learned it’s a lot of fun to watch Gonzaga roll its rival in a name-your-final-score game. Or Eastern Washington hand Montana its worst defeat in years. Or Washington State ride Noah Williams’ best game in a Cougar uniform to a rout over the Pac-12’s second-worst team.

All in all, despite the sleep-inducing game in the Kennel, it was a pretty good night around these parts.

• We didn’t get to watch any of the Eastern victory, thanks to the time overlap with GU, but we did focus attention on the Cougars. We have one thought: Williams was in a zone.

On both ends.

As exciting as his career-high 32 points were, and they were exciting, his work on the defensive end was equally impressive. Cal’s Matt Bradley is one of the conference’s better players and has a bulk advantage of some distinction on Williams. No matter. Washington State’s sophomore guard used his quickness and anticipation to make Bradley work hard for almost all of his team-high 16 points.

The word clinic came to mind more than once watching Williams’ play last night.

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Gonzaga: No matter the outcome, The Spokesman-Review’s coverage of a GU game has you surrounded, especially when Saint Mary’s is the opponent. Jim Meehan leads the way with his game analysis and difference makers. … John Blanchette has his column, this one on whether the WCC will do the right thing with its postseason tournament. … We have our TV Take, made simple by the final score and Jay Bilas’ presence. … There is a recap with highlights and a photo gallery, the latter from Colin Mulvany. … Jim also has a story on a GU recruit, Chet Holmgren, who is a Naismith Award finalist as well as one on the addition of makeup games next week. … The BYU women needed a home win over Gonzaga to help cement an NCAA berth. They got it last night. Jim Allen has the story of GU’s 61-56 loss in Provo. … Elsewhere in the WCC, Caleb Lohner scored 18 points as BYU routed Pacific in Stockton. … San Diego won at home against Santa Clara.

WSU: Theo Lawson made the trek down to Pullman, where Williams was hot enough to probably melt all the snow on the Beasley Coliseum roof. And maybe even the roads. Here is Theo’s game story. … Around the Pac-12 and college basketball, Stanford came into Seattle and just worked over Washington. … It was an interesting night in the Willamette Valley as well. Oregon State clamped down on defense and handed Utah a back-breaking 74-56 defeat. The Utes had been playing better. … Oregon found a way to hold off Colorado in a game that was tight throughout. The Ducks needed the win to stay in the race. The Buffaloes needed a win to stay in NCAA contention. Only one got what it needed. … UCLA heated up in the second half and pulled away from visiting Arizona. It was a much-needed win for the Bruins. The Wildcats are slipping as they near the end of their season. … USC’s schedule has been tweaked again. … In football news, a Utah receiver is transferring to Arizona State. … Oregon is hiring an new defensive backs coach. … Finally, Jon Wilner offers six names to consider as the next commissioner. I would vote for Greg Bryne.

EWU: The Eagles jumped to a quick lead, built it to 27 points and coasted to the 90-76 victory over Montana. With it, Eastern stayed atop the conference standings. Ryan Collingwood has all that and more in this game story. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Weber State connected on a lot of 3-point shots and rolled over Northern Arizona. … Southern Utah stayed in contention with an easy home win over Sacramento State. … Idaho State will have a few fans in attendance at its football games. … Weber State has signed coach Jay Hill to an extension.

Idaho: The Vandal men have yet to win this season. It has to be tough.

Preps: Coeur d’Alene is one of the favorites to win the Idaho 5A girls’ basketball title. Their quest began yesterday with a comeback win. Dave Nichols has a roundup of all the State games. … Dave also has a volleyball roundup to pass along. … Despite all that, and the story below, Dave still find time to talk with Larry Weir for the latest Press Box podcast. I will be talking to Larry this morning. That’s your only warning.

Indians: Baseball announced Spokane’s schedule yesterday and it is pretty interesting. The Indians will begin May 4, will play until Sept. 19 and will have six-game series home and away. Dave delves deeper into the slate in this story. (By the way, every time I type “slate” I think of Fred Flinstone’s boss. TV in the ‘60s ruined me.)

Mariners: How did James Paxton end up back with the M’s? A little luck was involved. … Scott Servais loves this team. The rest of us might use another word verb. … No spring training morning meetings this year. … Felix Hernandez has one goal. Cooperstown.

Seahawks: Russell Wilson. The Hawks. Another national NFL writer weighs in. … The salary cap is going to fall, but maybe not as much as thought.

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• The Weather Channel, through the app on my iPhone, assures me the latest round of snow has stopped. If you can’t trust the Weather Channel app, what can you trust? But do I really want to leave the house today? Is there anything I have to do outside these four walls? Well, shovel the deck and driveway. But after that, not really. We have a huge yard. Hopefully the local squirrel will be out and the dog can run around all day fruitlessly attempting to catch it. He can use the exercise. Me? I’m going to hunker down and read. Until later …