A Grip on Sports: The Zags’ current lineup dominated WSU on Tuesday night, but their future prospects might depend on the healing power of the team’s medical staff
A GRIP ON SPORTS • There was a local rivalry in men’s college basketball on the schedule Tuesday night, though it didn’t play out like it. That’s just one of the subjects on the agenda this morning. But the one that carries the most weight. A lot more weight, in fact, than Braden Huff was putting on his injured leg.
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• KXLY posted a video on X of Huff coming onto the McCarthey Athletic Center court before the Zags’ 30-point beatdown of Washington State last night. It couldn’t have engendered a lot of hope among the GU faithful.
Huff has been out almost a month since suffering a left-knee injury in practice. The original timeline from the school mentioned a four-to-eight week absence. That seems a bit ambitious considering how cautious Huff seemed in the video. But our doctor credentials go no further than “consistently sees one,” so we’ll refrain from making any predictions.
Other than to say a healthy Huff in the lineup made Gonzaga a legitimate national title contender. Without him?
• His absence didn’t matter against the Cougars. Not the first meeting in Pullman (an 86-65 victory in Huff’s first game out of the lineup) or Tuesday (an 83-53 one). But Washington State will not be a March Madness participant this season, and these days the Bulldogs’ top goal is being special in March.
February? That’s how you build for it. Those building blocks seemed in place as they moved back into first place in the West Coast Conference standings. That ascension, however, may not last. Santa Clara, like GU 12-1 in league, plays tonight, hosting 4-8 Seattle U. And then the two frontrunners meet up in Santa Clara on Saturday night in a rematch of the Zags’ 89-77 win in Spokane. A win that marked Huff’s last appearance in the lineup.
Will he be around for March? At 100%? Or close to it? And, if not, will this lineup iteration, one that dominated the Cougars throughout but also lost at Portland last week, have enough size, weapons and efficiency to continue the school’s not-so-recent tradition of advancing to the NCAA’s second weekend? Or beyond?
• Speaking of seeding, the NCAA bracketology community responded to the seven-point road loss to the middling Pilots with, on average, a two-seed drop in its projections.
The Zags’ two seed disappeared. They are a four just about everywhere. That’s still a protected seed and would mean playing the first weekend in Portland. All of that, though, could disappear with another bubble between now and Selection Sunday.
Or it might not matter too much, if Huff returns to the lineup and to his pre-injury form before the selections are locked in. The committee does take injuries into account.
• As for the Cougars? David Riley’s group has a ball-handling problem. Has been there all season. And against a team as active as the Zags have been, especially since they have been forced to trade Huff’s inside presence for more outside pressure, that problem was even more acute.
Twenty-one turnovers are too many by at least half. The 31 GU points that resulted accounted for more than the final margin. Such looseness with the ball destroyed any offensive continuity – something Riley’s teams have been known for – and any chance for an upset.
• The Seahawks participated in a yearly ritual Tuesday. They cleaned out their lockers and headed home for the offseason. As far as I could tell from the video, most of them looked as if they could star in a Red Bull commercial. Their feet were barely touching the ground.
But offseasons are a time of change, even after a winning the Lombardi Trophy. And the Hawks won’t be immune. There are free agents who may fly away, including Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III, who wrote a new top line for his employment resume.
Riq Woolen, he of the early season cover issues and the near-fatal NFC title game unsportsmanlike conduct, is also free to test the open market. As are secondary mates Coby Bryant and Josh Jobe. Midseason energy boost, wide receiver and returner Rashid Shaheed is also available, as is special teams star Dareke Young.
How many leave? How many stay? The answers to those question will once again tell us what John Schneider and Mike Macdonald value.
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WSU: Greg Woods traveled up from Pullman and has an analysis of the game from the Cougar point of view. Of course there is more coverage just below, in the Gonzaga section. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, there will be big news tonight. At least it seems that way. The conference is finally ready to reveal its 2026 football schedule. John Canzano shares that the schedule will contain some twists. … Jon Wilner has a new No. 1 in his Big 12 men’s basketball rankings in the Mercury News. … Wilner also has some thoughts on Big Ten athletes asking the NCAA to try to limit prop bets on college athletic events. … Tuesday was an upsetting night in college basketball. Though it could easily have been more upsetting. … Washington’s men still have a path to the NCAA Tournament. … Can Colorado make a tourney run? First it has to right the ship, starting tonight at No. 16 Texas Tech. … Utah has plans for the Huntsman Center. It is no longer leaning toward tearing down the site of the legendary 1979 NCAA title game. Instead, the school may renovate it. … Utah State stayed atop the Mountain West standings with a home win over Fresno State. … Colorado State picked up the pace and rolled over Air Force. … The Colorado women finally have a breather, facing last-place Houston tonight. … Arizona is missing some key players. … In football news, does North Dakota State’s jump to the FBS make sense? The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel says yes.
Gonzaga: It did not matter Tuesday whether the starting lineup was on the floor or if the five folks were reserves. The Zags just kept pulling away, building a 39-point lead before settling back for the 83-53 victory. Theo Lawson has his usual game analysis and worked with the folks in the office on the recap with highlights. … Jim Meehan added his three takeaways – maybe there should have been 21, to match the GU defensive total – and a story on Emmanuel Innocenti’s defensive prowess, which keyed the defensive charge. … Tyler Tjomsland was on the baseline and has this photo gallery. … Before the game, Theo posted a story on Graham Ike’s inclusion on the 20-member Wooden Award Watch List. … If you happen to listen to the women’s game on the radio, you have heard the call from Steve Myklebust for about two decades. That ends at end of this season. Greg Lee tells us Myklebust is retiring from his radio post. … The Zags’ recent hot streak has led to a rise in Jeff Metcalfe’s West Coast rankings for the Mercury News.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, football recruiting never stops. Not for Montana State nor Weber State. … The Northern Colorado women feature a veteran player who has written herself into the school record books. … Speaking of that, Ferris High star Kacey Spink has done exactly that in his four year at Idaho State. She is the school’s career steals leader and will finish in the top five in rebounding. … Portland State’s men take their league-leading 10-1 record into Flagstaff on Thursday night.
Preps: Dave Nichols did double-duty Tuesday. His first assignment? Covering North Central’s boys 56-55 win over Cheney in a District 3A playoff qualifying game. He also adds other results from the day’s action at the end of the story.
Chiefs: The nightcap for Dave? Heading a couple blocks to the Spokane Arena and the Chiefs’ 3-1 loss to visiting Seattle.
Seahawks: The locker cleanout session was filled with smiles. No cigars, though. … John Schneider has every right to savor the win. … Sam Darnold spent some his day handing out chicken at a new Raising Cane’s in Seattle. … The Super Bowl TV ratings are out. … The Hawks might be raising a little Cain next season again. … This season did not start out with a bang.
Mariners: I’m a cable guy. Still. But many of you, I’m sure, have made the switch to streaming for your TV needs. The M’s streaming options this season are different. They are also explained in this Times story.
Olympics: One thing about the American team in these Winter Games. They have some big names trying to add to their impressive history of success. One of them is Chloe Kim in snowboarding. … The women’s hockey team features some new stars but continued their recent success against Canada in pool play. … Other U.S. standouts are struggling a bit.
Golf: Our favorite non-major event is this weekend. Though the once-amazingly fun Crosby on the Monterey Peninsula has been replaced by a pretty sterile PGA signature event. The field is almost as impressive, however, as the views from Pebble Beach – and the ice plant at Spyglass. I still have nightmares of trying to hit my ball out of the succulent that dominates the first few holes. … Two guys who will not be playing may just decide how the Tour looks in a couple years.
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• Some sad family news. My sister Linda lost her husband, Al Nocciolo, Tuesday at age 73. Al, who spent his career in education, played baseball at UCLA (like me, he was a catcher) and was an avid golfer throughout his life, even after his battles with kidney and skin cancer made swinging a club almost more painful for him than having to watch his brother-in-law hack his way around a course. I always envied Al’s golfing ability. But even more, I envied the way his college roommates, which included former UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero, two-time NCAA baseball title-winning coach Andy Lopez (Pepperdine and Arizona) and former Pepperdine baseball coach Frank Sanchez (the best man at my sister’s wedding), talked about him. Over the years while covering WSU, I had chances to talk with all of them about Abby, as they affectionately called him. And the tight bonds they had growing from boys into men together. Those bonds, nor his bonds with his former JC coach Mike Gillespie, who also won an NCAA title at USC, ever frayed. Rest in peace Albert …