A Grip on Sports: Then there was one and even that one, the Gonzaga men, face a tough task if they want to swing the Inland Northwest banner in the NCAA’s second weekend

A GRIP ON SPORTS • The first two days of the men’s tournament are over. It’s on to the second round. The first day of the women’s tournament is over. And every local NCAA Division I basketball team has played. Who does that leave us for the weekend?

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• Once again, it’s the Gonzaga men who are still standing. But even the third-seeded Zags’ season may not survive the opening weekend. They face a hot Texas team (4:10 p.m., TBS), sporting two tourney wins already, in Portland on this first Saturday.

The rest?

The Gonzaga women were sped up, lost contact with Ole Miss early on Friday afternoon and fell 81-66 in Minneapolis. A strong fourth-quarter run allowed the Zags to enter the offseason on something of a positive note, having trimmed a 33-point deficit to 12 in the final 69 seconds.

Later in the evening, the Idaho women also had a tough start and lost at fourth-seed Oklahoma 89-59. The Vandals’ 18-game winning streak? Gone, done in mainly by missed shots – UI shot 25% from the field and 22% from beyond the arc – and an inability to get stops.

That’s it for the Inland Northwest’s entries in the NCAA’s women’s tournament, though if you want to expand your horizon just a little, there are two neighbors still playing.

Washington, led in large part by former Colfax and Central Valley star Brynn McGaughy (14 points and six rebounds), showed its sixth seed was appropriate, topping South Dakota State 72-54. And Oregon, led by former GU head coach Kelly Graves, won an 8/9 battle over Virginia by 10 points.

As for the men, the West Coast north of L.A. is represented by one team. The Zags. It was this close to two, but as regulation ran down, Santa Clara didn’t foul, no one saw Herb Sendek gesturing for a time out except maybe a hesitant timekeeper, and Kentucky hit a game-tying 3-pointer at the (late) horn. The Wildcats won in overtime.

March. There is nothing like its madness.

• Don’t forget. You can find all the S-R’s stories about the NCAA Tournament at this one handy-dandy link.

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WSU: Around the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, the Jon Wilner column I linked yesterday? The one that looked at next year’s conference basketball lineup and how the members stack up for at-large NCAA berths in the men’s tourney? It’s available on the S-R site today. … John Canzano sang the praises of Portland’s NCAA opening round. … There were a few decent games Friday, though no big upsets. But a pretty special record was set. … Utah State wasn’t happy about its seed. So it took it out down the stretch on the Big East’s third participant, Villanova. … Arizona wasn’t tested much by LIU. But the Wildcats expect more of one from the Aggies tomorrow. … UCLA was without one star but had enough to hold off Central Florida. … Though I linked a story on the Oregon women above, there are a couple more to pass along. … Oregon State coach Scott Rueck would have loved one more game. … Colorado State gave Michigan State a battle but fell. … Colorado will face Illinois today. … UCLA, carrying a one seed, doesn’t expect much of a test.

• In football news, the Utah divorce with Kyle Whittingham was uglier than anyone thought. Newly released documents show he wanted to stay. But it wasn’t going to happen. Now he’s in Ann Arbor and he took a chunk of the Utes’ staff with him. … How will the Big Ten schools do in the fall? … Spring football at Colorado features an emerging receiving star.

Gonzaga: Early on in the Zags’ long 21st Century NCAA success story, Mark Few’s teams would bow out here and there because they just weren’t tough enough for the task. Will they be tonight? Theo Lawson looks at the “T” word, and all it means, in his game preview. … Speaking of their NCAA legacy, Dave Boling has a few thoughts on that. … Theo also has the key matchup, which will be a tough one for Gonzaga. … A couple more from Theo. A notebook that begins with a look at the Bulldog players who made their NCAA tourney debuts Thursday and another notebook focused on the Longhorns. … Both teams have big men that worry the opposition. Jim Meehan spends some time on the expected battle in the middle. … The two aspects of the women’s loss I mentioned above? Greg Lee delved into both. His game story has all the particulars about the majority of the game and his notebook focuses on the fourth-quarter rally. … Colin Mulvany was also in Minneapolis and has this photo gallery. … Elsewhere in the WCC, yes, Santa Clara had the game in its hands. But a bunch of mistakes, from the players, officials and timer, and one great shot added up to overtime against Kentucky. And the Broncos lost their first NCAA game in 30 years.

Idaho: No matter what happened Friday, Vandal coach Arthur Moreira saw his team do special things, especially down the stretch. One NCAA loss wasn’t about to keep him from remembering that part of the season. … The men also had special moments, even some in the blowout NCAA loss to Houston. Madison McCord has more on those in this analysis. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, the Montana State and Northern Colorado women are finally set to start their postseason tournaments. … Northern Arizona is going to lose the nation’s leading freshman scorer. She’s entering the transfer portal. … The Lumberjack football team has announced its portal arrivals.

Preps: There is a roundup of Friday’s action to pass along.

Chiefs: Spokane was in Kent last night and fell 4-3 to the Seattle Thunderbirds. 

Mariners: The M’s are not out of pitching prospects. Not by a long sight. One showed up yesterday in a showcase of minor leaguers and blew the competition away. … Logan Gilbert and Cal Raleigh reunited and the Mariners rolled. … The newest third baseman is a pro, in the best sense of that word.

Seahawks: Seattle decided to exercise its fifth-year options on 2023 first-round picks, receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and cornerback Devon Witherspoon. They are now under contract for 2027. … If the Hawks want to keep receiver Jake Bobo, they will have to pay him a couple million more than their previous agreement.

Sonics: The NBA has changed considerably since the Sonics moved to Oklahoma. But it seems obvious the Seattle fans will still embrace a new expansion team.

Reign: Seattle fell behind by two goals early and, despite Portland being hit with two red cards, couldn’t rally back.

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• Feeling much better today. Thanks for asking. Now can the rain stop and the sun come out? I could actually enjoy it. Until later …