A Grip on Sports: The facts are simple and simple to enumerate concerning Gonzaga’s domination of the WCC’s postseason tournament

A GRIP ON SPORTS • If we can, we will touch on 29 facts today. Why 29? To honor the number of consecutive WCC tournament final games Gonzaga has played in. An NCAA record. That may never be broken. But we are not sure we can hit that number.

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• It’s not that there aren’t 29 facts to touch on. Heck, there are probably more than that just from the Orleans Arena and the WCC’s last tourney with the Bulldogs, Washington State and Oregon State as members. Hey, that’s (1). Let’s see how far we can get …

• Anyone surprised the Zags won their semifinal against Oregon State while scoring just 65 points? Why? The WCC tournament has become a grind-it-out affair recently, especially for GU. The last two title games? Gonzaga has scored 60 and 58 points (2) – and is 1-1.

• With Jalen Warley back (3) – he missed two games resting a nagging leg injury – the Bulldog defense was on point, holding OSU to 33.9% shooting from the floor (4). That included a 24% mark from beyond the arc (5). GU’s numbers? Though Graham Ike connected on 10 of 17 attempts (6), the Zags shot 47.2% (7) and were a miserable 21.4% from long range (8).

• Hey, Gonzaga hit 12 of 13 free throws (9). That helps. And, as Scott Van Pelt likes to say, crucial for March.

• In tonight’s finals (6, ESPN), the Zag defense will be tested to a greater degree. Santa Clara, a 76-71 upset winner over Saint Mary’s (10), features one of the more efficient offenses on the West Coast. In Monday’s semifinal win, the Broncos shot 48.4% from the floor (11) and 44% from beyond the arc (12). The latter is a big weapon and was down the stretch against the Gaels, most notably Sash Gavalyugov’s long-range bomb as the shot clock expired with 13 seconds left to stifle the Gaels’ comeback.

• Saint Mary’s loss means its run of WCC finals appearances ends at four (13). As does their 15 meetings with Gonzaga in the finals (14).

The Zags and Santa Clara have matched up for the WCC’s NCAA auto berth three times (15). GU has won them all (16), with the last one coming in 2007 (17).

• Since the WCC moved its tournament off campus, settling into the Orleans Arena in 2009 (18), the Gonzaga women have appeared in all but four of the 18 finals (19). And that includes this afternoon’s matchup (1, ESPN2) with Oregon State (20).

The conference’s only NCAA bid – neither school has a at-large-worthy resume – is on the line in the final WCC game between the schools. Of course, both will be a part of the rebuilt Pac-12 next season (21).

• By the way, the Bulldogs have not won the tournament title since 2022 (22), when they topped BYU 71-59 (23).

• John Canzano reported Monday that David Riley, 31-34 in his two seasons with Washington State (24), will return for a third. His Cougars finished 12-20 this season (25), the school’s first sub-.500 record since Ernie Kent’s final season in 2019 (26).

• Eastern Washington’s men have been on a roll as of late, having won nine of their last 10 games (27). The one loss? It came against rival Idaho in Cheney. And was the Vandals’ second tight win – the margin was a combined seven points – in the rivalry (28).

The two meet again tonight in Boise (8:30, ESPN+) in the Big Sky tournament’s semifinals (29). Winner moves on to face either Portland State or Montana (30). Loser’s season is over.

• The Idaho women, regular season champs and top seed, face Sacramento State in this morning’s semifinal (31) (11, ESPN+). If UI wins, it will meet either second-seeded Montana State or upset-minded Eastern, seeded sixth (32). Those two’s semifinal is set to start at 1:30, also on ESPN+ (33).

• See, we were not disciplined enough to limit ourselves to just 29 facts. The only logical solution? Gonzaga’s men have to stay in the WCC for four more years. And make the final each time. Then we’re good. We’ll make some calls today and see if we can make it happen.

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WSU: As we mentioned above, Canzano had a note in his Monday mailbag about Riley’s status. Greg Woods has a story about it. … Former WSU quarterback Gardner Minshew is on the move again. He signed a one-year deal with Arizona. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner handed out his Pac-12-to-be awards in the Mercury News. Mark Few was his coach of the year. … Stanford and Cal open men’s ACC tourney play with a chance to make some noise. And the tournaments do matter to the selection committee. … Just who will make the cut? … Washington won’t and that has the fanbase upset. … Oregon faces Maryland to open the Big Ten tournament. … Colorado faces Oklahoma State in the Big 12 opener. … Does Utah have anything left? … … Eric Musselman had some real issues this season with USC. … Could Bobby Hurley be back at Arizona State? … Arizona swept the Big 12’s biggest awards, with Tommy Lloyd the coach of the year and Jaden Bradley the player. … The Mountain West men’s tournament should be wide open. … The Boise State women fell to the Mountain West’s Cinderella, Air Force. … The Falcons face Colorado State in the final. … In football news, Washington is about to begin its third spring under Jedd Fisch. … JaMarcus Shephard is about to run his first at Oregon State. … Colorado is looking to its linebackers to set a physical tone. … Arizona has a perfect face for its program. The quarterback, Noah Fitita.

Gonzaga: Monday was Wayne Tinkle’s final game as Oregon State’s coach (probably). And, as he saw it, it was that because his Beavers were facing “a brutal force,” otherwise known as Gonzaga’s defense. Theo Lawson has more about that in his game analysis and in the recap with highlights. … A key cog in that defense? Our choice as the WCC’s defensive player of the year, Warley, highlights Jim Meehan’s three takeaways. … Jim also has a story on the two Zag point guards getting back on track. … Dave Boling has this column in which he cites the Bulldogs’ 10th-place ranking in KenPom’s defensive metric. After the game was figured in, GU moved up to eighth. … Tyler Tjomsland has a photo gallery though the link did not work for us this morning. … A couple more things from Jim. He has the Zags’ numbers in the A.P. poll released Monday and teamed with Richard Fox for the latest Zag Basketball Insiders podcast. You can listen here if you want. … The women obliterated Santa Clara 88-60 in their semifinal. Greg Lee is in Las Vegas and has this coverage. … Greg has a notebook which also serves as a preview of today’s final. … Tyler has a photo gallery and that link worked for us. … The Oregon State women had little trouble dealing with top-seeded Loyola Marymount. … By the way, Tinkle made it clear he wants to continue to coach. … San Diego has found its coach, JR Blount.

EWU: The Eagle men held off Weber State on Monday night in Boise, winning 84-79. … The Eastern women, seeded sixth, opened the tournament with a matchup with third-seed Northern Colorado. And won 55-53, holding the Bears to 29.8% shooting. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana earned a semifinal men’s berth with a win over Northern Colorado. … Top seed Portland State had to work hard to get past upset-minded Idaho State. … The Idaho State women fell to Sacramento State but seem headed to a non-NCAA postseason tourney.

Mariners: Bryan Woo had another solid outing. … And the pitch-calling saga rolls on. Pretty sure it will end when Cal Raleigh returns. Now will the “spat” with Randy Arozarena over the handshake snub have receded by then?

Seahawks: Free agency took a big bite out of the Hawks’ Super Bowl-winning roster Monday. Running back Kenneth Walker III is headed to Kansas City. Defensive standouts Coby Bryant and Boye Mafe will be in Chicago and Cincinnati, respectively. … But Rashid Shaheed and Josh Jobe agreed to come back on multi-year deals. The signings help mitigate the damage some. As will the draft picks that will follow the losses. 

Sounders: Lumen Field will soon sport a grass field for the World Cup. The process is already underway.

Kraken: The newest member of the team, acquired at the trade deadline, has arrived. And is skating.

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• Today’s games seem crucial for the Zags. Both genders. The women need to win to earn an NCAA berth. The men need to win to secure a three-seed, which pencils out to a lot better route to the Sweet Sixteen and beyond than a four. Until later …