Short-handed or not, Carolina's visit a huge event for The Kennel
WOW!
On Saturday night, the Zags were thrilled.
By Sunday afternoon, they were wondering exactly how they should feel.
You probably know that the first exciting event was Gonzaga’s 84-80 victory over Arizona at the McKale Center in Tucson.
The final score didn’t exactly reflect the Zags’ dominance throughout the second half in a game that should have been a double-digit stroll — in a building where Arizona had won 101 of its previous 109 games (and 61 of 62 against nonconference opponents).
The Zags (11-1 and now No. 2 in the AP poll) went to sleep in the final three minutes, and allowed Arizona to make a crazy 15-1 run that had the McKale crowd of more than 14,000 going bananas.
Gonzaga committed silly turnovers, missed free throws — we’ve talked about this before, and they were a miserable 17 of 30 for the game — and allowed the No. 15 Cats (10-2) to claw within two points.
Fortunately, the clock was Gonzaga’s friend, so when Ryan Woolridge (one of the Zags’ shakiest foul shooters) dropped in a pair to make it a four-point game with 1.7 seconds remaining, the rally was over.
No doubt there will be plenty of tape-viewing to see what on Earth caused that breakdown after Gonzaga led by 16, but hey, it was a win in a building where visitors rarely get out smiling.
“I’m just happy we could win here,” Coach Mark Few said. “However it happened at the end, we’ll take it.”
OUCH
We’ll get back to that thriller in the desert shortly, but the wild win over Arizona wasn’t the only big news of the weekend.
On Sunday, then-No. 17 North Carolina lost 68-64 at home to Wofford — which was stunning, but not the story of the day.
Freshman Cole Anthony, the Tar Heels’ leading scorer at 19.1 points per game and projected as a cinch NBA lottery pick, missed the Wofford game with a knee injury.
North Carolina’s official announcement stated that Anthony would be out “indefinitely,” which certainly made it seem that he won’t make the trip West as the Heels visit The Kennel on Wednesday night.
The Zag Nation has been going bonkers over Carolina’s appearance in Spokane ever since the game was announced as the back half of a home-and-home arrangement.
Motivation?
Well, this was the team that beat the Zags in a national championship game with many controversial calls three years ago.
The Heels certainly took care of business at their place last year, hammering the Zags — who were missing Killian Tillie and Geno Crandall — with an almost unbelievable barrage of 3-point buckets.
Gonzaga has been anxious to return the favor, and on top of everything else, the North Carolina game concludes a three-game stretch that opened with victories at Washington and Arizona.
HEELS
A newspaper poll asking for the five most exciting games in the history of the McCarthy Center turned up with this appearance of North Carolina as No. 1 — before the game even has been played.
Now the likely absence of Anthony takes some of the shine off the game, although Carolina always has a stable of great players and the Zags had best get the idea of a walkover out of their minds.
North Carolina (6-4) has had a strange season already — even before losing Anthony.
The Heels have lost to top-15 powers Michigan, Ohio State and Virginia, but have wins over Oregon (the Zags might file that away), Alabama and a Notre Dame team that absolutely pounded UCLA.
Anthony played in all of Carolina’s previous games, however.
He missed the Wofford game — which was at home — as did starting wing Leaky Black, who is also Anthony’s backup at point guard.
Black is questionable for Wednesday night.
The Tar Heels, as you’d expect, still have plenty of star-quality athletes, like pro prospect Brandon Robinson.
It would be a shock if they don’t make things troublesome for the Zags — who are now a clear target for everyone.
Speaking of injuries, the Zags have some worries of their own.
Tillie seemed to twist his surgically repaired knee late in the Arizona game, and it was no coincidence that Gonzaga suddenly had an awful time breaking the Cats’ press.
“Killian is our guy who can solve just about anything,” Few said. “He makes it difficult to press us because he’s big enough to get a pass and see who’s open, he’s a great ballhandler and a good foul shooter.”
Tillie is not back to 100 percent, but he says he won’t miss a shot at North Carolina, not when he had to sit and watch last year’s disaster.
“I’m not all the way physically, but I can go,” Tillie said. “I’ll tough it out.”
Freshman wing Anton Watson might not be able to do that.
Watson, who had just about fully recovered from a twisted foot, suffered a shoulder subluxation in the Arizona game — the second time it’s happened this year.
The Gonzaga medical staff will have to decide if Watson, who has been playing the point on the Zags’ press, will need some kind of surgery or whether he can continue to play by popping the shoulder back into place (as he’s done already in a game this year).
GUARDS
There was some good news, however, as grad transfer guard Admon Gilder appears to be getting over a knee strain that has limited his minutes for several games — and handed a starting job to Joel Ayayi.
Gilder looked something close to his best at Arizona, canning four 3-pointers and displaying his normal quickness all over the floor.
Best of all, he contributed 30 minutes to help keep the other guards (and wing Corey Kispert) fresh with regular substitutions.
In fact, the Gonzaga guards all tormented Arizona, as Woolridge, Ayayi and Gilder combined for 35 points, 14 assists and 17 rebounds.
Ayayi, the France international who has exploded on the scene after a summer playing for his country, had another all-purpose night with 15 points (2 of 4 from deep), 6 rebounds and 7 assists.
Arizona often couldn’t keep up with Ayayi in transition, and when he didn’t go all the way to the hoop himself, Ayayi continually found open shooters — including Kispert, who hit a couple of 3-balls as the third man running the floor.
Few has always wanted pace — the Zags are now known for it — and Ayayi is a jet.
“That’s my game, getting up and down quickly, then trying to make good decisions,” Ayayi said. “I love playing at a fast pace — the quicker, the better.”
It was that speed, plus tenacious defense that forced the Wildcats into plenty of poor shots, that blew open Saturday’s game.
NOW …
So here comes North Carolina, and it’s fair to say that the Zags will be disappointed if Anthony is hurt seriously enough that he can’t play.
Besides the excitement of facing a world-class player, Gonzaga took on these tough nonconference games, in part, to build a resume for the NCAA tournament — and it won’t help if Carolina struggles (and perhaps stays out of the top 25) without Anthony.
Still, whoever shows up wearing the famous Carolina blue, the Zags are likely to need a pretty solid effort to avoid what now looks like it might be an upset.
And by the way …
The Zags don’t want to get caught in the bright lights that accompany North Carolina, and then go to sleep over the weekend.
A solid Eastern Washington club (6-3 and considered a Big Sky contender) will visit The Kennel on Saturday night.
That’s your classic “trap game,” and Few no doubt will spend some time getting his players’ heads back in focus between Wednesday and Saturday.
Meantime, the Zags are hoping to give North Carolina a spectacular welcome to the Inland Northwest.
Email: scameron@cdapress.com
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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Steve also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball each Tuesday.