Why Davis Fogle might be the most important piece for Gonzaga at this NCAA Tournament | Dave Boling

PORTLAND – At least Gonzaga avoided the upset bug that was going around the NCAA Tournament on its first day.

Still, most of the 73-64 win over No. 14 seed Kennesaw State was a graceless enterprise that did little to further the image of March Madness as the greatest athletic event in world, which many fairly contend.

And so often, the tournament lives up to it.

But this was all energy and flexing, no finesse, a game between teams from the bricklayers union and the stevedores.

Bad day to be a rim at the Moda Center.

It had to be exactly what the Owls wanted this game to look like. A rock fight.

And Gonzaga cooperated.

About halfway through the first half of the Gonzaga-Kennesaw State NCAA Tournament game, the teams had combined to make 9 of 41 shots. Twenty-two percent.

Deep shots, layups, tips – you name it – 78% of them clanked.

A series of underdogs had scored wins. This was what the gang of physical and aggressive Owls needed to have a chance against the No. 3 seed Zags.

Texas had surprised BYU on this very court before the Zags and Owls tipped off. Elsewhere, Texas A&M dumped Saint Mary’s, VCU topped North Carolina.

Those were exciting. This dragged. It went on and on, seemingly for hours, missed shot after missed shot.

As deep as about halfway through the second half, both teams were still stumbling around, shooting below 35%. The score was in the low 40s, not going much of anywhere.

Here’s what happened: Davis Fogle.

The freshman, Fearless Fogle, happened.

And the promise of this kid’s play next year – heck, the next game – had to lift this entire game into a fully-watchable rating.

We’ve seen this coming as his playing time has slowly grown, and his hunger to make things happen has taken over parts of Gonzaga’s games.

With about 10 minutes remaining, Fogle broke free on the baseline for an alley-oop that suddenly made the game special.

Yes, we remember, now, that’s what basketball looks like.

Fellow freshman Mario Saint-Supery nailed a 3. Tyon Grant-Foster slammed a dunk and basketball happened.

A few moments later and the 19-year-old Fogle was on the wing, clapping for the ball. He got it, drove into the lane, hung in the air, Owls clustered around him, and he delicately skipped it off the rim into the hoop.

It put the Zags up by 11.

At times a whirling spindle, with windmill arms, it’s hard to guess what Fogle will do. It’s becoming pretty obvious that defenders see some kind of manic look in his eyes when he starts those drives.

Old Sonics fans might notice some of Brent Barry’s game in Fogle. Totally unpredictable, and usually very good.

Later, he tore past a defender on the baseline and levitated and looked around, oh, oops, nothing there.

That’s okay, he’ll make up for it. At the start of the season, the staff was concerned he had some weaknesses defending and rebounding.

But he’s not a liability.

So often, like Thursday night, he gave the Zags a real lift.

They only needed that spark.

This almost turned into a real rock fight, the physical play getting too rough at some points like when Jalen Warley went for a breakaway and was dragged down roughly. This player is just coming back from a leg injury, and has to go through that.

Cheesy play. The game began to feel poorly administrated.

But Fogle ended with 17 points in 25 minutes with five rebounds.

So many contributed, then, Graham Ike with 19 points, Warley with 12 rebounds. Saint-Supery with eight assists.

What did GU need out of this game?

To break into a sweat, stretch the muscles a little, let the bench get some tourney minutes and start sketching in the game plan for stopping a durable Texas team that won the spot against No. 6-ranked BYU by beating North Carolina State by two in a first four game Tuesday night.

They had to fly from Dayton, Ohio, but dumped BYU, and will be the next challenge for GU on Saturday.

The win stretched the Zags’ string of opening-round victories to 17 straight NCAA Tournaments.

This served the purpose. They came back to form in the second half to avoid the kind of ignominious upset High Point shocked Wisconsin with.

And they know where to turn, now, when a spark is absolutely needed.