Gonzaga defeats Western Kentucky. Wow.
After Mark Few thoroughly outcoached Ken McDonald for the vast majority of the second half, he made a critical mistake.
Seriously - how often have you seen a run-and-gun team slow down into the halfcourt to run clock, and then lose the lead (or the game) simply by trying not to lose?
Granted, it shouldn't have happened. Orlando Mendez-Valdez made a ridiculous turnaround-jumpshot three-pointer that I've only ever seen made in the College Hoops 2K series for Playstation.
Then, on the other end he pushes off on Matt Bouldin, completes shoving him to the ground, and somehow the refs conveniently forget to blow the whistle.
The Zags blew a nine point lead in the final 2:15. Nine points. Shades of that UCLA game when J.P. Batista decided to welcome a Bruin double-team than pass the ball to a wide open 95% free throw shooter.
And then Demetri Goodson, of all people, wins the game. I honestly thought it was Pargo, but maybe that's because Goodson has been playing the way Pargo should have been, on both sides of the ball, for Gonzaga's tournament games.
Good lord that was fun. Reminded me of what made me love the Zags in the first place back in high school.
Except I always used to wonder why teams shot the lights out against the Zags from the perimeter. Of course, then I discovered what it was like to watch a team that actually cared about defense. And, well, the Cougs have been my overriding love ever since. Thank goodness, too.